US20220227574A1

US20220227574A1 - Draining the Beverage From a Single-Serve Beverage Pod With or Without an Outlet Piercing Element

Info

Publication number: US20220227574A1
Application number: US17/164,608
Authority: US
Inventors: Sung Oh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-01-30
Filing date: 2021-02-01
Publication date: 2022-07-21

Abstract

A single-serve beverage pod has a filter that is sealed to the rim of container where upon a predetermined force applied to the filter, the filter can separate from the rim to form a gap therebetween to drain the beverage. The rim also has a line of weakness which can also separate upon the application of the predetermined force to form the gap between the filer and the rim to drain the beverage. As such, the pod has two independent means of separating the filter from the rim to form the gap.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to a U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/968117, filed Jan. 30, 2020, entitled SINGLE-SERVE BEVERAGE POD DRAINING THE BEVERAGE WITH OR WITHOUT AN OUTLET PIERCING ELEMENT, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

A single-serve beverage pod is configured to brew a beverage and drain the beverage therein via multiple outlets. In particular, the pod may be orientated to drain the beverage about the bottom side, sidewall, and/or the top side of the pod with or without an outlet piercing element piercing through the pod.

2. Background of the Invention

The following background discussion is not an admission that the matters discussed below are citable as prior art or common general knowledge. Brewing a hot beverage through single-serve pods are popular for their convenience and a variety of flavors of beverage which are offered. For instance, single-serve pods may be packed with premeasured coffee ground which can be inserted into a brewing mechanism to inject hot water into the pod to brew a cup of beverage. As of 2018, the market leader of single-serve pods in North America is Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.® that sells its single-serve platform under the Keurig® brand name, collectively referred to as Keurig®. Keurig® offers over 400 different variety of single-serve pods, also known as K-Cup® pods (hereinafter referred to as “K-Cup(s)” or “K-Cup pod(s)”). For instance, US. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0051478 entitled BEVERAGE FILTER POD by Karanikos et al. (the “'51478 application”), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, generally describes the K-Cup pods offered in the market today. The '514778 application discloses a beverage filter cartridge having a cup like container where the interior is divided into two chambers by a cup-shaped filter element: a first chamber is located inside the filter and a second chamber is a space between the bottom of filter and the base of the container. The upper rim of the filter is joined at the upper opening of the container sidewall. The rim of the container is bonded with a lid to contain the coffee ground packed within the filter. The bottom of the filter is position above the bottom of the container such that the second chamber has enough space so that the tip of the bottom outlet needle does not pierce the bottom of the paper filter in order to prevent the paper filter from tearing open so that coffee ground do not escape from the filter during the brewing process.
In order to brew a beverage, a K-Cup pod is placed inside a brewer designed to work with the K-Cup pod. U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,138 (the '138 Patent”), which is hereby incorporated in its entirety, generally describes a brewer, offered by Keurig®, designed to work with K-Cup pods. The brewer includes a holder configured and dimensioned to receive a K-Cup pod generally in an upright position. The brewer has a cover that opens and closes, and underneath the cover is an inlet needle designed to pierce the lid of the K-Cup pod as the cover closes; and during the brewing process, heated water is injected into the first chamber via the inlet needle in order to brew a beverage as the water interact with the coffee ground packed within the filter. The beverage then flow pass the filter and into the second chamber but the coffee ground remain within the filter, The holder also has an outlet needle at the bottom to pierce the bottom of the container when the pod is pressed down into the holder. This allows the beverage within the second chamber to drain via the outlet needle.
Despite the popularity of the K-Cup pods, there are a number of disadvantages to brewing a cup of coffee with the K-Cup pod. First, while some K-Cup pods are recyclable, it is not easy to do so. For instance, after the K-Cup pod has been used to brew a beverage, the coffee ground within the spent pod hinders the container from being recycled. In this disclosure, a single-serve beverage pod that has been used to brew a beverage may be generally referred to as a “spent pod”. With the spent pod, a user may need to first remove the lid and discard the coffee ground within the filter in order to recycle the outer container with the filter still bonded to the container. In practice, many users may find that following these steps, in other words, removing the lid and then discarding the coffee ground to be cumbersome and messy. Accordingly, many users may not actually follow these steps to recycle the pods. Second, the K-Cup pods need to be pierced at the bottom of the container by an outlet needle in order to drain the beverage via the outlet needle. In some instances, the outlet needles can get clogged such that the beverage cannot be drained, which can cause the brewing mechanism to malfunction. Third, the same outlet needle is used to brew a variety of different flavor beverages, such as coffee, tea, and hot cocoa, but using the same outlet needle can contaminate the flavors among different flavored beverages. This can lead to unsatisfactory taste of the beverages. Accordingly, there still is a need for a K-Cup pod that can be recycled more conveniently, reduce the chances of the outlet needle getting clogged, and/or minimize the contamination of flavors due to using the same outlet needle for brewing different flavored pods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One of the aspects of the invention is to provide a single-serve pod with a container having a base that extends upwardly to form a sidewall and extends outwardly to form a rim to define an opening, the rim having a line of weakness defining an outer section and an inner section of the rim where the inner section is juxtaposed to the sidewall; a filter having a filter base that extends upwardly to form a filter sidewall and extends outwardly to form an extension to define an opening adapted to receive beverage ingredient, where the opening of the container is adapted to receive the filter such that the extension is juxtaposed to the rim of the container; and an energy director between the rim of the container and the extension of the filter.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a single-serve beverage pod that can be brewed in different orientations such as in a substantially upright position and a substantially horizontal position. When the pod is brewed in the substantially upright position, the formation of the beverage may be drained through a pierced hole formed within the base of the container but when the pod is brewed in the substantially horizontal position, the beverage can be drained through a gap formed between the rim and sidewall of the container and may pour directly into a mug to avoid contaminating the beverage. The container may be formed from a unitary part having a rim extending outwardly from a sidewall, and the rim may be separated from the sidewall via a line of weakness. The container may be also formed from separate parts peelably bonded together such that the rim part can be peeled away from the sidewall part to form a gap between the two parts to allow the beverage to drain via the gap.
In this regard, one of the aspects of the invention is directed to a beverage pod, comprising: a container having a first part peelably bonded to a second part along a bond area, the first part having a first sidewall that bends at a corner to form a first section and defining an opening around the first section, the second part having a base and a second sidewall that is outside and juxtaposed to the first sidewall to form a pathway between the first and second sidewalls and to have the first section extends outwardly from the second sidewall where the opening defines a top side of the container and the base defines a bottom side of the container, and the bond area is located near the top side of the container; a filter coupled to the first part such that the filter forms a pocket within the opening to receive a beverage substance within the pocket; and a lid coupled to the first section of the first part to enclose the opening and to hermetically seal the beverage substance within the container such when the beverage pod is brewed in a first orientation the base is pierced by an outlet piercing element to drain the beverage via the outlet piercing element, and when the beverage pod is brewed in a second orientation at least a portion of the bond area is separated to form a gap between the first and second parts by a separating element to allow beverage to flow along the pathway and drain via the gap.
Another aspect of the invention is directed to a beverage pod comprising: a container having: a first part having a first sidewall that bends at a corner to form a first section defining a first opening; a second part having a base that bends at a corner to form a second sidewall defining a second opening adapted to receive the first sidewall of the first part, the first part peelably bonded to the second part, and when the beverage pod is brewed in a first orientation the base is pierced by an outlet piercing element to form a pierced hole and when the beverage pod is brewed in a second orientation a portion of the first part is peeled away from the second part to form a gap; a filter bonded to the first part defining a first chamber and a second camber within the container, the first chamber defining a pocket adapted to pack a beverage substance such that formation of beverage within the first chamber passes through the filter and into the second chamber; and a lid enclosing the first chamber such that the lid and the container hermitically seal the beverage substance within the container, and during a brewing process, the beverage within the second chamber drains either through the pierced hole in the base or the gap formed between the first and second parts.
Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a beverage pod beverage pod comprising: a container having: a first part having a first sidewall that bends at a corner to form a first section surrounding a first opening; a second part having a base and a second sidewall defining a second opening adapted to receive the first sidewall juxtaposed to the second sidewall, the first part peelably bonded to the second part, the second part formed from a pierceable material so that the base is pierceable when the beverage pod is brewed in a first orientation to form a pierced hole through the base, and a portion of the first part peeled away from the second part when the beverage pod is brewed in a second orientation to form a gap between the first and second parts; a filter bonded to the first part adjacent to the first opening defining a first chamber and a second camber within the container, the first chamber defining a pocket adapted to pack a beverage substance such that formation of beverage within the first chamber passes through the filter and into the second chamber; and a lid enclosing the first chamber such that the lid and the container hermitically seal the beverage substance within the container, wherein when the beverage pod is brewed in the first orientation, the pierced hole is first formed through the base during the brewing process and a gravitational force draws the beverage toward the base to drain the beverage through the pierced hole; and wherein when the beverage pod is brewed in the second orientation, the gap is first formed between the first and second part and the gravitational force draws the beverage toward the lid to drain the beverage through the gap.
Still another aspect of the invention is directed to a beverage pod a method of brewing a beverage with a pod including a filter within a container with a sidewall extending upwardly from a base and extending outwardly forming a rim, the filter having a pocket to receive beverage substance and bonding the filter between the rim and a lid to enclose the beverage substance within the pocket, the method comprising: injecting heated liquid through the lid of the pod to mix with beverage substance within the pocket to brew a beverage; draining the beverage formed within the pod through the base of the pod when the pod is in a first orientation such that the gravitational force directs the beverage to exit through the base; and draining the beverage formed within the pod through a gap formed between the rim and the sidewall when the pod is in a second orientation such that the gravitational force directs the beverage to exit via the gap.
Another aspect of the invention is directed to a beverage pod a beverage pod, comprising: a container having a sidewall extending upwardly from a base and extending outwardly from a bend location forming a rim having a first extension and a second extension that is slanted downward relative to the first extension, and the rim having a line of weakness around the rim and away from the bend location defining a proximal extension of the rim and a distal extension of the rim; a filter having a pocket with a ledge defining an opening to receive a beverage substance, and the ledge of the filter coupled to the first and second extensions of the rim; and a lid coupled to the ledge of the filter to enclose the opening and to seal the beverage substance within the container, wherein when a sufficient force is applied to a portion of the distal extension of the rim, the portion of the distal extension of the rim and the ledge of the filter separate from the proximal portion of the rim along a portion of the line of weakness to form a gap between the distal and proximal extensions.
Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a beverage pod, comprising: a container having a first part peelabley coupled to a second part along a bond area, the first part having a first sidewall extending upwardly from a base, the second part having a second sidewall that bends at a corner to form a first section and defining an opening around the first section, the second sidewall juxtaposed to the first sidewall to form a pathway between the first and second sidewalls and to have the first section extend outwardly from the first sidewall such that an application of sufficient force upon the first section causes at least a portion of the second part to separate from the first part along a portion of the bond area to form a gap to allow formation of beverage to flow along the pathway and drain via the gap; a filter coupled to the second part such that the filter forms a pocket within the opening to receive a beverage substance within the pocket; and a lid coupled to the first section of the first part to enclose the opening and to hermetically seal the beverage substance within the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a single-serve beverage pod.

FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of the pod of FIG. 1A along the line 1B-1B.

FIG. 1C shows an enlarged view of the rim area of the pod as indicated by the encircled area marked 1C.

FIGS. 2A through 2L show enlarged cross-sectional views of various alternative embodiments of the rim.

FIG. 3A show a cross-sectional view of the pod in a first orientation in reference to the gravitational force as indicated by a direction arrow g.

FIG. 3B show a cross-sectional view of the pod brewing a beverage in the first orientation and draining the beverage via an outlet needle.

FIG. 4 show a flow chart illustrating the steps that may be utilized to pre-weaken a line of weakness of the pod.

FIG. 5A shows a perspective view of a pod in a second orientation in reference to the gravitational force as indicated by a direction arrow g.

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the pod of FIG. 5A along the line 5B-5B illustrating flow of brewed beverage in the second orientation and draining the beverage without an outlet needle.

FIG. 6A shows a cross-sectional view of a pod placed within a brewing chamber orientated to brew and drain the beverage in a second orientation.

FIG. 6B shows a cross-sectional view of the pod of FIG. 6A in an intermediate stage prior to piercing the lid with an inlet needle.

FIG. 6C shows a cross-sectional view of the pod in a second orientation for brewing and draining the beverage within the pod without an outlet needle.

FIG. 6D shows a cross-sectional view of the spent pod after the brewing process.

FIG. 7A illustrates a cross-sectional view of a pod in a second orientation ready to form a gap to drain the beverage.

FIG. 7B illustrates the pod in a second orientation having a gap to drain the beverage with minimal spattering of the beverage.

FIG. 8A illustrates a pod that supports the filter to enlarge a gap for draining the beverage.

FIG. 8B shows the pod of FIG. 8A where a gap is formed to drain the beverage.

FIG. 9A illustrates another embodiment of a pod in a second orientation with a liner to isolate the inlet needle.

FIG. 9B shows the pod of FIG. 9A with the liner isolating the inlet needle and a gap to drain the beverage.

FIG. 9C shows an expanded view of the pod of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 9D shows another embodiment of a liner for the pod of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 10A illustrates a pod having a liner incorporating a one-way valve.

FIG. 10B illustrates a pod without a filter.

FIG. 10C illustrate a pod having solid substances for brewing soup.

FIG. 11A shows a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a pod having an irregular shape sidewall.

FIG. 11B shows the pod of FIG. 11A within a brewing chamber.

FIG. 11C shows the pod of FIG. 11A with the sidewall that has been reshaped during the brewing process.

FIG. 12A shows a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a pod having a shield to protect the filter.

FIG. 12B shows a perspective view of the shield.

FIG. 12C shows a pod having a shield with the filter attached to the shield.

FIG. 12D shows an alternative detail view of the shield attached to the container.

FIG. 12E shows another alternative view of the shield attached to the container.

FIG. 13A shows an alternative low-pressure pod in an upright expanded perspective view.

FIG. 13B shows an inverted perspective view of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13C shows an enlarge view of the holes in the base of the filter.

FIG. 14A shows an alternative high-pressure pod in an upright expanded perspective view.

FIG. 14B shows an inverted perspective view of FIG. 14A.

FIG. 14C shows an enlarge view of the holes in the base of the high-pressure filter.

FIG. 15A shows enlarge view of extension of the filter and rim of the container.

FIG. 15B shows enlarge view of an energy director.

FIG. 15C shows enlarge view of an energy director in a different location.

FIG. 15D shows enlarge view of an energy director underneath the extension.

FIG. 16A shows an assembled pod of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 16B shows an alternative pod from the pod illustrated in FIG. 13A.

FIGS. 17A through FIG. 17D illustrate various stages of separating the extension from the rim to drain a beverage.

FIGS. 18A through FIG. 18B illustrate alternative means of separating the extension from the rim to drain a beverage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The various aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the drawings and descriptions described below. The components in the figures, however, are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the various aspects of the invention. The claimed invention is not limited to apparatuses or methods having all of the features of any one apparatus or method described below or to features common to multiple or all of the apparatuses described below. The claimed invention may reside in a combination or sub-combination of the apparatus elements or method steps described below. It is possible that an apparatus or method described below is not an example of the claimed invention. In general, when the terms “may”, “is”, and “are” are used as a verb in the description corresponding to a particular subject matter, these terms are generally used in this disclosure as an expression of a possibility of such subject matter rather than as a limiting sense such as when the terms “shall” and “must” are used. For example, when the description states that the subject matter “may be” or “is” circular, this is one of many possibilities, such that the subject matter can also include an oval, square, regular, irregular, and any other shapes known to a person of ordinarily skilled in the art rather than being limited to the “circular” shape as described and/or illustrated in the corresponding referenced figure. In addition, when the term “may”, “is”, and “are” are used describe a relationship and/or an action, these terms are generally used in this disclosure as an expression of a possibility. For example, when the description states that a subject matter A “may be” or “is” adjacent to a subject matter B, this can be one of many possibilities including the possibility that the subject matter A is not adjacent to the subject matter B as it would be understood by a person of ordinarily skilled in the art.
Moreover, it is within the scope of the invention to combine the various embodiments disclosed relating to one or more particular drawing and their corresponding descriptions with one or more of other drawings and their corresponding descriptions disclosed herein and/or other references incorporated herein by reference where such a combination may be combined and practiced by one of ordinary skilled in the art. The phrase “single-serve beverage pod” in this disclosure generally refers to a single brewing process where a desired volume of beverage is brewed to serve one cup of beverage, however, it is within the scope of the invention to have a pod that packs sufficient beverage substance to brew multiple cups of beverage from a single brewing process or from multiple brewing processes. Also, the term “beverage substance” generally refers to the underline article when mixed with liquid such as water formulates a beverage such as coffee, tea, fruit drink, surgery drink such as punch, soda, cocoa, milk, soup, energy drink, liquid medicine, and the like. For instance, for coffee, the beverage substance may be coffee ground, instant powder coffee, and/or concentrated coffee in liquid form that can be diluted with water for consumption. For tea, the beverage substance may be tea ground, instant powder tea, and/or concentrated tea in liquid form that can be diluted with water for consumption. For baby milk, the beverage substance may be milk powder or concentrated milk liquid. For medicine such as for flu or cold, the beverage substance may be in the powder or liquid form which can be dissolved with predetermined portion of the heated water to brew a proper portion of the liquid medicine. In addition, the beverage substance may be provided in the form of pellets that are infused with desired flavors; and once the pellets are exposed to liquid such as water, the trapped flavors may be released by the pellets, which is then absorbed by the mixing liquid to formulate a beverage with the desired flavor. As such, the beverage substance may be in the form of ground, powder, liquid, pellets, and the like; and the beverage substance may be formulated from single or multiple ingredients. The same referenced numerals referred to in the drawings and descriptions generally correspond to same or similar parts throughout the disclosure.
FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a single-serve beverage pod 10 including a container 12 and a lid 14 sized to enclose the container 12. In reference to the gravitational force as indicated by the direction arrow g, the container 12 may have a base 16 and extending upwardly therefrom may be a sidewall 18, which may then extend laterally at a bend location 20 to form a rim 22. The base 16 and the sidewall 18 may be circular such that the bend location 20 and the rim 22 may be correspondingly circular as well. The outer dimensions and configuration of the pod 10 may vary depending on the application. The outer dimensions and configuration of the pod 10, however, may include dimensions and configuration same or similar to that of K-Cup® pod found in the market today. Moreover, as discussed in more details below, a different pod having different size and configuration may be used along with the pod 10, such as a second pod having a different height that is greater or smaller than the height of the pod 10.
FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of the pod 10 along the line 1B-1B shown in FIG. 1A; and FIG. 1C shows an enlarged portion of the pod 10 as indicated by the encircled area marked 1C where the rim 22 may have a slanted configuration that faces downwards toward the base 16. The pod 10 may include a filter 24 forming a pocket generally defining a first chamber 28 within the container 12 configured to receive and hold the beverage substance 26. The filter 24 may have a bottom 30 with a sidewall 32 extending upwardly therefrom and extending outwardly from a corner 34 to form a ledge 36 configured to nest over the rim 22 and seal to at least a portion of the rim 22. The ledge 36 of the filter may be sealed to the rim 22 through a variety of methods known to one skilled in the art, such as being permanently or peelably bonded such that the ledge 36 of the filter 24 can be peeled away from the rim 22, if desired. Depending on the application, the ledge 36 may be bonded to the rim 22 through a variety of peelable bond known to one skilled in the art. The peelable bond may have sufficient strength to allow both bonded materials to remain bonded together during normal conditions of manufacturing, shipping, use, and brewing process while being sufficiently weak enough to allow one material to be peeled away from the opposite material by the application of sufficient force to separate the two materials. The sufficient force may be applied through the use of hand and/or via mechanical means within the brewing mechanism.
The filter 24 may also define a second chamber 38 between the filter 24 and the sidewall 18 and the base 16 of the container 12. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have the second chamber 38 be minimized such that the bottom 30 of the filter 24 may contact the base 16 of the container 12. The filter may be formed within the container 12 such that a pathway 40 may be formed between the sidewall 18 of the container 12 and the sidewall 32 of the filer 24. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have a portion of the filter 24 be in contact with the sidewall 18 and/or the base 16. The filter 24 may be formed from a variety of materials known to one skilled in the art such as paper filter, synthetic filtration material, moldable non-woven filtration material, biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable material. As an example, the non-woven filtration material may include a plurality of multi-component filaments that are bound or interlocked by non-woven manufacturing techniques (such as spunbond techniques) to form the ledge 36 extending outwardly around the circumference of the corner 34 of the filter 24. The basis weight for filter 24 adapted for filtering ingredients for preparing a single-serve beverage may be in the range from about 8 to about 400 grams per square meter (gsm), also from about 40 to about 150 gsm, and from about 60 to about 120 gsm. Depending on the brewing application, the filter 24 may be incorporated into the pod 10 such as for brewing ground coffee and tea, however, there may be other brewing applications where the filter may not be needed such as when brewing instant coffee, power drinks like chocolate powder, milk powder, or any other soluble or insoluble ingredients, and etc.
The pod 10 may be enclosed by the lid 14 to seal the first chamber 28 of the filter 24 and/or the rim 22 of the container 12. In general, in reference to the orientation of the pod 10 illustrated in FIG. 1A, the lid 14 may represent the top side of the pod 10, and the base 16 may represent the bottom side of the pod 10. The outer extension portion and/or intermediate portion of the lid 14 may be coupled to the ledge 36 of the filter and/or extend over the ledge 36 and bond directly to the rim 22 as discussed in more detail below. Accordingly, depending the application, the diameter of the lid 14 may be less, equal, or greater than the outer diameter of the rim 22 such that the lid 14 may or may not overlap the entire outer circumference of the rim 22. The lid 14 may be formed from a variety of materials known to one skilled in the art such as aluminum, plastic liner, biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable material. In particular, the lid 14 may be formed of a material that is resistant to tearing upon the application of a peel force. For instance, the lid may be formed from a multi-layered material that includes at least one layer that is resistant to tearing upon the application of a peel force. For example, the lid 14 may have a minimum tensile strength of 3000 psi and a minimum elongation of 50%. Examples of materials that may be used to resistant tearing include polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyamide PA6. A lid made of multi-la.yered material may include at least one layer formed of a continuous film of tear resistant material (laminated or extrusion coated) or a non-continuous film such as a non-woven polymer, mesh or perforated film. Examples of a multi-layered material for lid 14 include (from outside layer to inside layer): PET/aluminum foil/PE, PET/EVOH/PE, PET/metalized PET/PE or PET/PE. The lid 14 may be formed from a flexible material such that if the lid 14 is sized to overlap the rim 22, the lid may return to its original shape once the lid is free from the exterior restraints such as when a plurality of pods are packed within a box close to each other to minimize the size of the box. Alternatively, the pods may be made from biodegradable materials. For example, the pods may be made from biodegradable and/or compostable materials as disclosed in US Published Application No. 2014/0335236, entitled BIODEGRADABLE AND COMPOSTABLE SINGLE-SERVE BEVERAGE INGREDIENT PACKAGE, published Nov. 13, 2014; and also US Published Application No. 2013/0045308, entitled DISPOSABLE BIODEGRADABLE BEVERAGE PACKAGE, published Feb. 21, 2013, which are both hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, and referred hereto as “biodegradable disclosures” below.
As illustrated in FIG. 1C, the rim 22 may have a line of weakness 42 around the circumference of the rim 22 such that the rim 22 may be separated from the sidewall 18 when a sufficient force is applied to the rim 22 in a manner described below. The ledge 36 of filter 24 and the lid 14 may be coupled to the rim 22 such that when a sufficient force is applied over and/or underneath the rim 22, the rim 22, the ledge 36, and the lid 14 may separate from the sidewall 18 along the line of weakness 42 in a manner described below. The rim 22 may be slanted downward by an angle yr relative to a horizontal plane HP and the extension of the rim 22 from the line of weakness 42 may be ER. The angle ψ may vary from about 0° to about 90°, and from about 15° to about 60°, and in particular from about 30° to about 45°. The angle ψ may also be adjusted to allow the pod 10 to work with cup holders in traditional brewing mechanisms that brews K-Cup pods where the bottom 16 of the pod is pierced by an outlet needle or the like to drain the beverage via the outlet needle when the pod is generally brewed in an upright orientation. The length of the ER may vary from about 2.0 mm to about 10.0 mm, and from about 3.0 mm to about 8.0 mm, and in particular from about 4.0 mm to about 6.0 mm. The ledge 36 of the filter 24 may be bonded to a portion of the rim 22 via a first bond 50, and the ledge 36 may be bonded to the lid 14 via a second bond 52 such that the ledge 36 may be between the first and second bonds 50 and 52 in this embodiment, as discussed in more detail below.
The first and second bonds 50 and 52 may be bonded through a variety of methods known to one skilled in the art depending on the application. For instance, the first and second bonds 50 and 52 may have similar bonding strength or the first bond 50 may be stronger than the second bond 52, and vice versa. That is, the first and second bonds 50 and 52 may be individually and/or in combination permanent or peelable bond depending on the application. In reference to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1C, the first and second bonds may be permanent bonds such that they are not intended to be peeled off from their respective adhered members. The term “permanent” bond in this disclosure generally refers to relative strength of the bonds such that the permanent bond has stronger adherence characteristics than the peelable bond. The areas of the first and second bonds 50 and 52 may vary depending on the application and the desired strength of the bond. Also, the permanent and peelable bonding material may be a separate material from the filter 24 and the container 12 or it may be an integral part of the material (either a monolayer material or a layer of a multi-layered material) for one or both of the filter 24 and container 12. One example of a first bond 50 may be a heat sealable polymer such as polyethylene (PE) including low density PE, linear low density PE and high density PE. The first bond 50 may be provided as an inner sealing layer for the container 12 formed from a multi-layered material as discussed above or it may be provided as a separate first bond 50. Other suitable first bond 50 may include heat sealable materials such as polypropylene, lacquer, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene acrylates, polystyrene or combinations of the above. Adhesive materials (having comparable adhesion properties as described above to form a peelable bond) may be utilized for applications where a heat sealer is not desired or feasible. Suitable first bond 50 materials that may be integral with the filter 24 include homocomponent materials (such as polyolefin, polyester, and polyamide) and multicomponent materials (such as polyester-polyolefin, polyamide-polyolefin and polyester-polyamide). Moreover, other bonding methods such as ultrasonic bonding method may be used.
FIGS. 2A through 2L show enlarged cross-sectional views of various alternative embodiments of the rim 22 of the pod 10 and the manner in which the ledge 36 of the filter 24 and the lid 14 may be bonded together to their respective adjacent layers and the locations of the line of weakness 42. FIG. 2A illustrates that the container 12 may have a first line of weakness 42 at the bend location 20 on the exterior side of the container 12, and a second line of weakness 44 near the bend location 20 on the corner where the sidewall 18 bends to form the rim 22. In this embodiment, the first and second bonds 50 and 52 may be permanent bonds. That is, the bonding strengths between the two bonds 50 and 52 may be similar and resistant to separation from their respective bonding area under normal intended us. Moreover, the pathway 40 may be formed between the two sidewalls 18 and 32.
FIG. 2B illustrates that the container 12 may have a first line of weakness 42 at the bend location 20 on the exterior side of the container 12, and a second line of weakness 44 near the bend location 20 but on the inner side 12B of the container 12. FIG. 2C illustrates that the rim 22 may include a first extension 22B and a second extension 22C with a line of weakness 42 at the bend location 20 on the exterior side of the container 12. The first extension 22B may extend outwardly in a lateral or horizontal manner; and this may provide more surface area 46 on the rim 22, which in turn provides greater bonding area for a more secure bonding between ledge 36 and the rim 22. The second extension 22C may extend in an oblique or slanted manner relative from the first extension 22B such that the second extension 22C face towards the base 16 of the container 12. Alternately, the first and second extensions 22B and 22C may extend in a curve like manner where the edge 48 of the rim 22 face downwards toward the base 16 of the container 12. Moreover, a portion of the sidewall 32 of the filter 24 may contact the sidewall 18 of the container thereby minimizing the pathway 40 relative to the pathway 40 shown in FIG. 2A.
FIG. 2D illustrate that the line of weakness 42 may be on the inner side 12C of the container 12 adjacent to the bend location 20. FIG. 2E illustrates that the rim 22 may have an extension 54 adapted to more securely engage with a separating element 216, as discussed in more detail below, to allow the rim 22 to separate from the sidewall 18 of the container 12 along the line of weakness 42. In addition, the ledge 36 of the filter 24 and the lid 14 may adhere to the taper portion of the rim 22 to increase the bonding surface area between the ledge 36 and the rim 22. FIG. 2F illustrates that the line of weakness 42 may be located at the inner side 12C of the container 12 adjacent to the bend location 20 with the extension 54. Note that it is within the scope of the invention where the container 12 may have more than one line of weaknesses 42. For example, the container 12 have two lines of weaknesses 42 on its exterior and interior sides as illustrated in FIGS. 2E and 2F, respectively.
FIG. 2G illustrates that the ledge 36 of the filter 24 and the lid 14 may be extended to encompass the first and second extensions 22B and 22C of the rim 22. The ledge 36 of the filter 24 may be comprised of a first extension 36B and a second extension 36C which may be bonded to the first and second extensions 22B and 22C, respectively. The line of weakness 42 may be formed on the outer surface 12B of the rim 22 about an extension distance R1 from the bend location 20, which may be adjacent to the oblique location 56 where the second extension 22C bends from the first extension 22B at the angle ψ as discussed above. With the line of weakness 42 located outside of the boding area 46, the bonding area 46 of the first and second bonds 50 and 52 may be sufficiently large to prevent the outside oxygen from entering the first and second chambers 28 and 32 of the pod. That is, even if the line of weakness 42 is unintentionally cut too deeply into the rim 22 such that outside oxygen may pass through the line of weakness 42, the sufficiently large bonding area 46 prevents oxygen to entering the pod.
FIG. 2H illustrates that the line of weakness 42 may be formed at the extension distance R1 from the bend location as discussed above in reference to FIG. 2G, but on the outer side 12C of the rim 22 adjacent to the oblique location 56 where the second extension 22C bends from the first extension 22B. FIG. 2I illustrates that the first and second extensions 36B and 36C of the ledge 36 may be bonded to the first and second extensions 22B and 22C, respectively. However, the lid 14 may be bonded to the first extension 36B of the ledge 36 but not the second extension 36C of the ledge 36. The line of weakness 42 may be formed on the outer surface 12B of the rim 22 adjacent to the bend location 20. In this example, the first bond 50 between the ledge 36 and the first extension 22B may be a peelable bond; and the second bond 52 between the ledge 36 and the lid 14 may be a permanent bond but a peelable bond may be suitable as well.
FIG. 2J illustrates that the line of weakness 42 may be formed on the inner side 12C of the rim 22 adjacent to the bend location 20. FIG. 2K illustrates that the ledge 36 of the filter may adhered to the first extension 22B of the rim 22 while the lid 14 may be extended to encompass the first and second extensions 22B and 22C of the rim 22. The line of weakness 42 may be formed at an extension distance R1 from the bend location 20. FIG. 2L illustrates that the line of weakness 42 may be formed at the bend location 20 on the exterior side 12B of the rim 22. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have a pod with the first extension 22B but not the second extension 22C such that the entire rim 22 may be substantially horizontal. Moreover, as disclosed above, the line of weakness 42 may be located on the inner and/or outer sides of the container 12 and at different locations. In this regard, the die cuts and the bonds discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,293 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Moreover, a variety of combinations of line of weakness formed on the interior and/or exterior side of the container 12 may be utilized to ensure that the pod 10 is properly sealed so that the beverage substance with in the pod 10 may remain fresh as long as possible.
FIGS. 3A and 3B show a cross-sectional view of the pod 10 with the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2G positioned within a brewing chamber 60 in a first orientation in reference to the gravitational direction arrow g. The brewing chamber 60 includes a cover 62 having an inlet piercing element 64 such that the cover may close and open relative to a holder 66 having an outlet piercing element 68 protruding from a bottom 70 of the holder. The holder 66 has a sidewall 72 with a lip 74 defining an opening 76 sized to receive the pod 10 when the cover 62 is fully open.
FIG. 3A shows the cover 62 in a partially closed position relative to the holder 66 such that the inlet piercing element 64 has partially pierced through the lid 14 but the tip 68B of the outlet piercing element 68 abuts against the base 16 of the pod 10 without piercing through the base 16 until the cover 62 fully closes. When the cover 62 is in the partially closed position, the rim 22 may be between the cover 62 and the lip 74 such that the first and second extensions 22B and 22C, respectively, maintain their original shape as illustrated in FIG. 2G. In reference to FIG. 2G, the location of the line of weakness 42 and the second extension 22C extending obliquely therefrom may be configured such that once the pod 10 is within the brewing chamber 60, the lip 74 may be aligned with at least a portion of the second extension 22C; and the second extension 22C does not interfere with the operation of the cover 62.
FIG. 3B shows that as the cover 62 fully closes relative to the holder 66, the lip 74 of the holder 66 may abut against the second extension 22C that causes the second extension 22C to move upwards to be aligned laterally relative to the first extension 22B. The upward movement of the second extension 22C weakens the line of weakness 42 such that the line of weakness 42 may be pre-weakened once the cover 62 fully closes relative to the holder 66. Thereafter, the beverage may be brewed by injecting liquid into the pod 10 through the inlet piercing element 64 and the beverage may drain via the outlet piercing element 68 as indicted by the direction arrows 78. The first bond 50 between the ledge 36 of the filter and the rim 22 may be a peelable bond. Once the spent pod 10 is removed from the holder 66, the line of weakness 42 has been pre-weakened by the brewing chamber 60 such that the second extension 22C may be separated from the first extension 22B along the line of weakness 42 more readily by the user. That is, the spent pod 10 may be removed from the brewing mechanism 40 by the user; and if the user desires to recycle the pod 10, the user may grab and pull away any portion of the second extension 22C to cause the second extension 22C to separate from the first extension 22B along the pre-weakened line of weakness 42, and cause the ledge 36 of the filter to peel away from the first extension 22B due to the peelable bond used between the ledge 36 and the rim 22. And as the user continues to pull on the second extension 22C, the rest of the second extension 22C, the filter 24, and the lid 14 may separate from the rest of the first extension 22B along the pre-weakened line of weakness 42. Even with the second extension 22C separated from the container 12, the bulk of the container 12, which includes the first extension 22B, may be recycled.
Placing the pod 10 in a brewing position may also be referred to as a first orientation where the pod 10 is positioned relative to the gravitational direction arrow g such that the direction arrow 78 of the beverage generally flows towards the base 16 of the container 12 to allow the beverage to drain via the outlet piercing element 68. That is, the first orientation of the pod 10 may include positioning the pod 10 in a slanted position relative to the gravitational direction arrow g, as long as the beverage is able to flow towards the base 16 to be drained through a variety of methods known to one skilled in the art. Moreover, while the above description generally relates to the embodiment disclosed in reference to FIG. 2G working with the brewing chamber 60, other embodiments of the pod disclosed in references to FIGS. 2A through 2L may work with the brewing chamber 60 as well.
FIG. 4 show a flow chart 90 illustrating the steps that may be utilized to pre-weaken the line of weakness 42 of the pod 10. In step 92, a pod 10 may be provided for brewing a beverage having a rim 22 that has a line of weakness 42 around the circumference of the rim 22 where at least a portion of the rim 22 extends obliquely 22C from the line of weakness 42 and towards the base 16 of the container 12. Note that the line of weakness 42 need not go around the entire circumference of the rim 22. In step 94, the holder 66 may receive the pod 10 when the cover 62 is in an open position. In step 96, the line of weakness 42 may be weakened as the cover 62 closes relative to the holder 66 as the lip 74 of the holder 66 abuts against the second extension 22C portion of the rim 22, which causes the second extension 22C to move upwards to be aligned laterally relative to the first extension 22B. The upward movement of the second extension 22C weakens the line of weakness 42 such that the line of weakness 42 may be pre-weakened once the cover 62 fully closes relative to the holder 66. Accordingly, once the line of weakness 42 has been pre-weakened, it may be easier for a user to peel away the second extension portion 22C, lid 14, and filter 24 from the rest of the container 12 for recycling purpose.
FIG. 5A shows a perspective view of the pod 10 illustrating that the pod 10 may brew a beverage in a second orientation that may be in a substantially horizontal position relative to the gravitational direction arrow g. In this example, the rim 22 of the pod 10 may be the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2C with the second extension 22C extending out from underneath the lid 14. In the second orientation, an inlet piercing element 100 may pierce the lid 14 at a vertical distance from the center 102 of the lid 14 to allow the portion of the beverage substance that is above the center of axis of the pod 10 to be wetted first. However, it is within the scope of the invention to have the inlet piercing element 100 pierce at or near the center 102 of the lid 14. As discussed in more details below, a peelable portion 104 of the rim 22 that is below the inlet piercing element 100 or at about six O'clock position may be separated from the sidewall 18 along the line of weakness 42. Note that the peelable portion 104 may be anywhere around the rim 22 depending on the orientation of the pod 10 relative to the inlet piercing element 100. As the peelable portion 104 of the rim 22 is separated, the corresponding portion of the lid 14 and the filter 24 may be separated from the sidewall 18 as well leaving a gap 106 between the filter 24 and the sidewall 18 of the container 12. The circumference around the sidewall 18 in which the peelable portion 104 is separated or the arc of the peelable portion may be defined as an arc angle β in reference to the center 102 of the lid 14. The arc angle β may be from about 15° to about 180°, and from about 30° to about 120°, and also from about 45° to about 90°.
FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view of the pod 10 along the line 5B-5B of FIG. 5A to illustrate the gap 106 formed between the filter 24 and the sidewall 18 as the portion 104 is separated along the line of weakness 42. In particular, with reference to FIG. 1B discussed above, the filter 24 may be molded such the filter 24 may substantially maintain its shape during the brewing process so that the pathway 40 between the sidewall 18 of the container and the sidewall 32 of the filter may be substantially maintained to allow the beverage to flow along the pathway 40 and drain from the gap 106. During the brewing process, heated water 108 may be provided to the inlet piercing element 100 to inject the heater water 108 into the pod 10, which interact with the beverage substance 26 within the filter 24 such that the heated water washes away the beverage 112 from the beverage substance 26 as indicated by the direction arrows 112. The formation of the gap 106 between the peelable portion 104 of the rim 22, which is attached to the ledge 36 of the filter, and the sidewall 18 in the second orientation of the pod 10 allows the beverage 110 within the container 12 to drain via the gap 106 as illustrated by the direction arrows 112. The container 12 may be formed from a malleable material when exposed to elevated temperature such that during the brewing process, the separated portion of the sidewall 18 may expand thereby enlarging the gap 106 due to the rise in the temperature and pressure within the pod 10 from the heated water injected into the pod 10 under pressure. In this regard, the pod 10 and in particular the container 12 may be more conducive to being formed from biodegradable materials. In general, biodegradable materials are made from plant-base materials like corn such that biodegradable material may be more malleable than the conventional multilayered material discussed above to form the container 12 due to the elevated heat and pressure within the container 12 during the brewing process.
The beverage may flow along the path within the pod 10 as generally indicated by the direction arrows 112. In general, the inlet piercing element 100 may pierce the lid 14 at a vertical distance from the center 102 of the lid 14 to allow the portion of the beverage substance that is above the center of axis of the pod 10 to be wetted first. That is, the inlet piercing element 100 may be position to inject heated water into the pod 10 to take account of the capillary action of the beverage substance and gravitational force when the pod 10 is used in the second orientation so that the heated water may be distributed within the filter 24 to washes away the flavor from the beverage substance evenly. Such even distribution of heated water 108 within the filter 24 may allow the beverage substance to be washed more evenly which may result in a smoother tasting beverage. As the beverage exit the filter 24, the gravitational force directs the beverage downwards toward the separated portion of the sidewall 18 to allow the beverage to flow along the pathway 40 and exit along the gap 106.
As the beverage drains through the gap 106, the second extension 22C of the rim 22 may extend in a downwardly direction to act, in part, as a funnel to direct the beverage into a mug (not shown) as indicated by the direction arrows 112. The second extension 22C may minimize the beverage from spattering to drain the beverage in a clean manner. In addition, the pod 10 may drain the beverage without the need for an outlet piercing member thereby eliminating the possibility of contamination due to using the same outlet piercing member for subsequent pods with different flavored beverages, such as coffee and tea. Moreover, in some instances, some particles of the beverage substance 26 may escape from the filter and clog the outlet piercing element, which can cause the brewing mechanism to malfunction. And once the pod 10 has been brewed, the portion 104 of the rim 22 is pre-peeled from the sidewall 18 such that it may be easier for the user to completely separate the lid and the filter from the rest of the container 12 by grabbing onto the peelable portion 104 to fully peel away the container 12 from the lid and filter to recycle the container. That is, many recycling facilities in the U.S. may not be able to recycle the container unless the container has been separated from the lid and filter due to the beverage substance contained therein. The container 12 may be separated from the lid and filter after the spent pod 10 has been removed from the brewing mechanism or while the spent pod 10 is still held within the brewing mechanism. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have the beverage within the container drain via the gap 106 and/or an opening formed with an outlet piercing member along the base 16 or on the sidewall 18 to allow the beverage to drain when the pod 10 is in the second orientation. In addition, the beverage may exist the gap 106 and pour into a funnel (not shown) which then directs the beverage to pour into a mug.
FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C show a cross-sectional view of a brewing chamber 200 capable of peeling the portion 104 of the pod 10 having the rim embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2C to form the gap 106. The brewing chamber 200 may include a first potion 202 and a second portion 204. The first portion 202 may include a cap 206 with the inlet piercing element 100. The second portion 204 may include a holder 208 with a sidewall 210 to form an opening 212 with a depression 214 therein such that the pod 10 may be placed into the opening 212 and into the depression 214. The holder 208 may also have a separating element 216 configured to support and abut the underside of the rim 22 associated with the peelable portion 104 of the pod 10 such that the pod 10 may not fully insert into the depression 214 when a user places the pod 10 into the holder 208. That is, as the pod 10 is placed into the opening 212 of the holder 208, the underside of the second extension 22C may engage with the separating element 216 and guide the pod 10 into a proper position relative to the separating element 216 such that the separating element 216 may abut against the underside of the first extension 22B adjacent to the line of weakness 42. In particular, the underside of the second extension 22C may have a concave like surface such that as the user places the pod 10 into the opening 212 of the holder, the concave surface of the second extension 22C may assist the user in placing the pod 10 in a consistent manner to ensure that the separating element 216 is properly aligned adjacent to the line of weakness 42 to separate the peelable portion 104 from the sidewall 18 of the container 12.
The first and second portions 202 and 204 may be mechanically engaged such that the opening 212 of the holder 208 is accessible to the user to allow the user to place the pod 10 into the opening 212 as illustrated in FIG. 6A. In addition, although not necessary, the holder 208 may be orientated at an angle θ relative to a horizontal plan 218 so that the opening 212 may face a user to allow the user easier access to the opening 212 to place the pod 10 into the holder 208. However, it is within the scope of the invention to have the holder 208 be movable or non-movable and at a variety of orientations as long as the angle θ is such that the gravitation force, as indicated by the direction arrow g, and the pressure within the pod allows the beverage formed within the pod 10 to drain in a manner described above in reference to FIG. 5B. Moreover, while FIG. 6A shows the holder 208 orientated to have an angle θ, it is within the scope of the invention to have the angle θ be zero or even tilted in a negative orientation. Furthermore, some cross-sectional views of the pods may not show the beverage substance within the first chamber or filter in order to better indicate certain reference numerals in the drawings; however, such cross-sectional views of the pods should be viewed as including a beverage substance within the filter or within the container 12 in those applications when the filter may not needed such as when concentrated powder is used to brew coffee, tea, and hot chocolate cocoa.
FIG. 6B illustrates the first portion 202 partially engaged with the second portion 204. The first and second portions 202 and 204 may be mechanically engaged with an actuator (not shown) such as a handle (not shown) so that when the actuator is activated by a user, for example, the first and second portions 202 and 204 may move in a predetermined manner relative to each other so that the inlet piercing member 100 may pierce the lid 14, and the second portion 204 may move to a more horizontal position, as indicated by the direction arrow 220, such that the angle θ may be from about −20° to about +20°, and preferably from about −5° to about +5°. In this regard, the handle mechanism, brewing mechanism, and its corresponding pod disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,549,636 entitled BEVERAGE FORMING DEVICE WITH BEVERAGE OUTLET CONTROL, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, may be utilized to brew a beverage in a more horizontal position. Again, the angle θ may vary as long as the gravitation force and the pressure within the pod allows the beverage formed within the pod 10 to drain in a manner described above in reference to FIG. 5B. Although not necessary, the first portion 202 may orient the cap 206 so that the inlet piercing element 100 penetrates the lid 14 in a substantially perpendicular manner, as indicated by the direction arrow 222, to minimize the pierced opening area 226 (see FIG. 6C) on the lid 14 to minimize the chance that beverage within the pod 10 may leak out from the opening formed by the inlet piercing element 100.
FIG. 6C illustrates the first portion 202 moving towards the second portion 204, as indicated by the direction arrow 226, to fully engage with the second portion 204 as the actuator is further activated relative to the FIG. 6B, but prior to the brewing process. Alternatively, the second portion 204 may move towards the first portion 201 as indicated by the direction arrow 228, or in some combination where both of the first and section portions 202 and 204 are moved toward each other simultaneously. As the first portion 202 further engages with the second portion 204, the angle θ may further reduce relative to the position illustrated in FIG. 6B or the angle θ may remain the same. Moreover, as the first portion 202 moves towards the second portion 204, the inlet piercing element 100 pierces through the lid 14, and the cap 206 pushes on the upper portion 132 of the lid 14 and the rim 22 to further push the pod 10 into the holder 208. The separating element 216, however, substantially prevents the peelable portion 104 along with the corresponding rim 22 from being inserted into the holder 208 such that the peelable portion 104 detaches from the sidewall 18 along the corresponding portion of the line of weakness 42, thereby forming the gap 106 between the rim 22 (which may be attached to the filter 24) and the sidewall 18 to allow the beverage to drain along the gap 106. By way of analogy, if the lid 14 is viewed as a face on a clock, then the cap 206 may be configured so that the peelable portion 104 of the rim 22 may be from about 3 O'clock to about 9 O'clock, alternatively from about 4 O'clock to about 8 O'clock, and also from about 5 O'clock to about 7 O'clock. Note the portion of the rim 22 that is peeled from the sidewall 18 is not limited to any particular circumference as long as there is a sufficient gap 106 to allow the beverage to pass along the gap. During the brewing process, a desired beverage may be brewed by injecting heated liquid into the inlet piercing member 100 and draining the beverage in a manner described in reference to FIG. 5B.
FIG. 6D shows the first and second portions 202 and 204 in their respective positions as illustrated in FIG. 6A with the spent the pod 10. In other words, once the pod 10 is in a brewing position as described in reference to FIG. 6C, heated water may be injected into the pod 10 in a manner described above in reference to FIG. 5B. The spent pod 10 has an opening 212 formed by the inlet piercing element 100 with the peelable portion 104 already separated from the sidewall 18. During the brewing process, the sidewall 18 that has been separated from the peelable portion 104 may expand, due to the heat and pressure within the pod 10 such that the lip 230 of the sidewall 18 may have a spout like configuration to allow the beverage to drain more smoothly from the gap 106. To remove the spent pod 10, a user may grab the pre-peelable portion 104 along with the rim 22, and lift the pre-peelable portion 104 attached to the filter 24. As the pre-peelable portion 104 is lifted, the expanded lip 230 may abut against the tip 232 of the separating element 216 thereby preventing the container 12 from egressing the depression 214 of the holder 208. And as the user continues to lift the pre-peelable portion 104, the rest of lid 14 and the filter 24 holding the beverage substance 26 may be peeled away from the container 12 along the line of weakness 42 while the container 12 remains held within the holder 208. Thereafter, the user may remove the container 12 from the holder 208 to be discarded or recycled.
FIG. 7A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the pod 10 with the detail view of the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2G placed into the second portion 204. As the pod 10 is placed into the opening 212 of the holder 208, the underside of the second extension 22C with its concave like inner surface may engage with the separating element 216B and guide the pod 10 into a proper position so that the separating element 216B is properly aligned against the underside of the second extension 22C and adjacent to the line of weakness 42. In addition, the sidewall 210 of the holder 208 may have a lip 234 configured to be aligned with the second extension 22C such that the line of weakness 42 may be pre-weakened in a manner discussed above in reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.
FIG. 7B illustrates that as the first portion 202 and the second portion 204 engage relative to each other, the separating element 216B separates the second extension 22C from the first extension 22B along the line of weakness 42 such that the second extension 22C of the rim 22 may be utilized to direct the flow of beverage draining from the gap 106. That is, the second extension 22C of the rim 22 may be substantially vertical or generally along the direction of the gravitational force g or along any other orientation to facilitate smooth flow of beverage exiting from the pod 10. The first extension 22B may remain attached to the sidewall 18 such that the first extension 22B may act as a spout to facilitate draining the beverage smoothly along the first extension 22B. This may allow the first and second extensions 22B and 22C to work together to act as a spout and funnel, respectively, to direct the flow of beverage draining from the gap 106 to minimize splattering of the beverage. Note that the shape of the first extension 22B and the underside of the second extension 22C and the angle ψ (see FIG. 7A) may be varied to control the manner in which the beverage within the pod 10 drains from the gap 106 and pours downward towards the mug below the brewing chamber 200. In addition, as discussed in reference to FIG. 3B, as the first portion 202 fully closes relative to the second portion 204, the lip 234 of the holder 208 abuts against the second extension 22C, which may cause the second extension 22C to move upwards to pre-weaken the line of weakness 42.
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate that the pod 10 with the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2G is capable of brewing in the first and second orientations along with other embodiments of the pod 10 illustrated in FIG. 2A through 2L. Moreover, other embodiments disclosed herein may be combined with any one or more alternative embodiments of the rim 22 to brew in the first and second orientations as well. For example, the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2G may have the ledge 36 of the filter 24 extend to the first extension 22B but not to the second extension 22C as illustrated in FIG. 2L. Also, the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2G may have the ledge 36 of the filter 24 not bonded to the first extension 22B of the rim 22 but the ledge 36 may be bonded to the second extension 22C. As another example, the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2G may have the ledge 36 of the filter 24 bonded along the first and second extensions 22B and 22C except near the oblique location 56 where the line of weakness 42 may be formed such that there are two distinct peelable bonded areas between the ledge 36 of the filter and the rim 22, a first bonded area between the ledge 36 and the first extension 22B, and a second bonded area between the ledge 36 and the second extension 22C. Still further, the rim 22 illustrated in FIG. 2L may have the ledge 36 of the filter 24 not bonded to the first extension 22B but have the lid 14 bonded to the ledge 20 and the second extension 22C. As such, it is within the scope of the invention to combine various disclosed embodiments, such as the line of weaknesses, bonding between two substrates, containers, rims, lids, ledges, and/or filters disclosed in the specification with one or more of other embodiments.
FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate another embodiment of a separating element 216C that may move as indicated by the double direction arrows 236 between a retracted position 236A as shown in FIG. 8A and an extended position 236B as shown in FIG. 8B relative to the holder 208. FIG. 8A shows that in the retracted positon 236A, the separating element 216C may be flush with the opening 212 formed by the sidewall 210 to allow the pod 10 to fully insert into the depression 214 of the holder 208. The base 16 of the container 12 may have a cavity 120 at about its center. The bottom 30 of the filter 24 may be sealed to the tip 122 of the cavity 120 to support the filter 24 when the pod 10 is used in the second orientation so that the pathway 40 between the sidewall 32 of the filter 24 and the sidewall 18 of the container 12 may be substantially maintained. Note that the pod 10 with the cavity 120 formed on the center of the base 16 may be operable with the brewing chamber 60 described in reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B since the outlet piercing member 46 pierces the base 16 near the edge where the sidewall 18 extends upwards rather than at the center of the base 16. The cavity 120 formed within the base 16 may have a variety of configurations such as semi-spherical, pyramid, rectangular, and etc.
FIG. 8B shows that as the first portion 202 slides towards the second portion 204, as indicated by the direction arrow 226, the separating element 216C may also slide out relative to the holder 208 towards the extended position 236B. The combined motion of the first portion 202 and the separating element 216C separates the peelable portion 104 from sidewall 18 to form the gap 106. In addition, the tip 122 of the cavity 120 supports the bottom 30 of the filter 24 such that as the peelable portion 104 begins to separate from the sidewall 18 of the container, the sidewall 32 of the filter 24 adjacent to the gap 106 extends and away from the sidewall 18 to substantially maintain the pathway 40 and the gap 106 to provide a path for the beverage 110 within the pod 10 to drain. The first and second portions 202 and 204 and the separating element 216C may be mechanically interlinked such that actuation of an actuator may cause the first and second portions 202 and 204 and the separating element 216C to move in a manner described above. Conversely, once the brewing process is finish, the separating element 216C may move back to the retracted position 236A shown in FIG. 8A such that it may be easier for a user to remove the pod 10. Alternatively, the bottom 30 of the filter 24 may be deep enough to reach the base 16 of the container 12 having a flat bottom and a portion of the bottom 30 of the deep filter 24 may be sealed to the base 16.
Another alternative mechanical or motorized arrangement may have the movement of the actuator causes the first and second portions to fully enclose relative to each other and have the separating element 216C move from the retracted position 236A to the extended position 236B to peel the peelable portion 104 and then return to the retracted position 236A so that the separating element 216C does not interfere with the flow of beverage from the gap 106. Moreover, with the separating element 216C in the retracted position during the brewing process, the beverage draining from the gap 106 may not be contaminated by the separating element 216C since the separating element 216C remains substantially clean and does not come into contact with the beverage. Other separating elements 216A and 216B may also be mechanically linked or motorized to isolate the separating element away from the path of the beverage draining from the gap 106 and into the mug to substantially prevent the separating element from contaminating the beverage during the brewing process.
FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D illustrate another aspect of a modified pod 10 capable of peeling the portion 104 of the lid 14 to form a gap 106 that is larger than the gap 106 illustrated in FIG. 6C. In this embodiment, the pod 10 may include a liner 134 placed between the lid 14 and the ledge 36 of the filter 24, which is supported by the rim 22 of the container 12. The liner 134 may be formed from a material that is permeable to air and water but substantially impermeable to beverage substance. Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, the liner 134 may be substantially resistant to being punctured by the tip 114 of the inlet piercing element 100 such that the liner may have sufficient tensile strength so that the inlet piercing element 100 may pierce through the lid 14, but the tip 114 may push the liner 134 out without tearing through the liner 134. As such, the liner 134 may substantially isolate the inlet piercing element 100 to minimize contamination of the inlet piercing element 100 such that the same inlet piercing element 100 may be used to inject water into different flavored of pods such as coffee, tea, soup and milk, without the flavor from the spent pod contaminating the flavor of the subsequent pods having a different flavor. In addition, the liner 134 may also prevent the inlet piercing element 100 from getting clogged by the small particles of the beverage substance 26 to ensure proper performance of the brewing mechanism. The liner 134 may be also formed from water filtering material so that the water injected into the pod by the inlet piercing element 100 may be purified to improve the quality of the beverage.
FIG. 9A also shows that the separating element 216 may move between a retracted position 244 and an extended position 246 about a hinge 248 as indicated by the direction arrow 255. For instance, the hinge 248 may be spring loaded to be biased towards the retracted position 244. However, when sufficient force is applied to the separating element 216, the separating element 216 may move in a counter-clockwise direction towards the extended position 246. For example, as the spent pod 10 is removed from the second portion 204, the separating element 216 may move towards the extended position 246 so that the lip 230 of the sidewall 18 may not interfere with the tip of the separating element 216.
FIG. 9B shows that as the first portion 202 slides towards the second portion 204, as indicated by the direction arrow 226, and as discussed above in reference to FIG. 6C, the inlet piercing element 100 may pierce through the lid 14, but the liner 134 may resist being pierced and stretched by the inlet piercing element 100 such that the liner 134 separates from the lid 14 thereby forming a third chamber 136 between the lid 14 and the liner 134. The third chamber 136 may have a cone like configuration extending across the diameter of the rim 22, for example, with the apex area 138 being the area where the tip 114 of the inlet piercing element 100 pushes on the liner 134. In addition, as the separating element 216 detaches the peelable portion 104 of the lid 14 from the sidewall 18, the tensile strength of the liner 134 may substantially prevent the liner 134 from stretching such that the radius R may be substantially maintained between the apex area 138 and the separation location 140 along the line of weakness 42. And as the separation location 140 moves in a clock-wise direction, the separation location 140 may also move in an upwardly direction towards the inlet piercing element 100 such that the size of the gap 106 between the sidewall 32 of the filter 24 and the sidewall 18 of the container 12 may be greater than the gap 106 illustrated in FIG. 6C. For example, the enlarged gap 106 may be illustrated in FIG. 9B by the separation location 140 being farther away from the tip of the separating element 216 and closer to the tip 114 of the inlet piercing element 100 compared to the location of the separation location illustrated in FIG. 6C. The enlarged gap 106 may allow the beverage within the container 12 to flow at a slower rate to allow the beverage to flow more smoothly.
FIG. 9C shows an expanded view of the pod 10 including the liner 134 located between the lid 14 and the ledge 36 of the filter 24, which is supported by the rim 22. The outer edges of the lid 14 and the liner 134, and the outer edges of the liner 134 and the ledge 36 of the filter may be sealed together through a variety of methods known to one skilled in the art. For instance, the lid 14 and the liner 134 may be sealed together via peelable or more permanent bond; and the liner 134 and the ledge 36 may be sealed together via peelable or more permanent bond. The liner 134 may also have an enforcement patch 142 having a circular configuration with an opening 144 at the center. The patch 142 may further strengthen the liner 134 to prevent the liner 134 from stretching and tearing. In addition, the circular configuration of the patch 142 may allow the pod 10 to be placed into the second portion 204 in any orientation and still have the patch 142 abut the tip 114 of the inlet piercing element 100 when the piercing element 100 is configured to pierce the lid 14 off centered as illustrated in FIG. 5A.
FIG. 9D shows a perspective view of another alternative embodiment of the liner 134A which may be formed from impermeable material that resists being pierced and stretched by the inlet piercing element 100. The liner 134A may also have a center patch 142A with a one-way valve 146 that allows the water injected into the third chamber 136 by the inlet piercing element 100 to exit the third chamber 136 via the one-way valve 146 and into the first chamber 28 but prevents the beverage formed within the first chamber 28 from entering the third chamber 136. That is, the liner 134A may be formed from an impermeable material to liquid such that the liquid and/or beverage may not pass through the liner 134A other than via the one-way valve 146 from the third chamber 136 to the first and second chambers 28 and 32 but prevents the liquid beverage from passing through the liner 134A and the one-way valve 146 from the first and/or second chambers 28 and 32 to the third chamber 136. This allows the inlet piercing element 100 to be isolated from the beverage formation within the first chamber 28 to prevent the inlet piercing element 100 from getting contaminated; and when the pod 10 is brewed in the second orientation as discussed above, the beverage within the pod 10 may be drained without the need for an outlet piercing element so that cross-contamination from brewing different flavor beverages from different pods may be eliminated or at least minimized. Alternatively, when the inlet piercing element 100 is configured to pierce the lid 14 about its center, the patch 142 that is permeable to liquid may be adhered to the liner 134 about its center to abut the piercing element 100 to further protect the permeable liner from piercing by the inlet piercing element.
FIG. 10A illustrates the pod 10 having the liner 134A with the patch 142 incorporating the one-way valve 146 directing the flow of liquid 108 as indicated by the direction arrow 148. The pod 10 may be also packed with the beverage substance in the form of a predetermined portion of pellets 150 infused with desired flavors and or ingredients within the first chamber 28 or the filter 24. As the inlet piercing element 100 injects water into the third chamber 136, the liquid may exit through the one-way valve 146 as indicated by the direction arrow 148 from the third chamber 136 to the first chamber 28 and mix with the pellets 150 within the first chamber 28 to formulate a beverage. The beverage may then pass through the filter 24 and gather in the second chamber 38 and drain via the gap 106 as indicated by the direction arrows 148. The pellets 150 may be contained within the filter 24 during the brewing process and the beverage may be prevented from entering the third chamber 136. The pellets 150 may be infused with a variety of flavors such as sweet, fruity, and acidic flavors. The pellets 150 may also be infused with carbon dioxide (CO₂) to carbonate the beverage. In such instances, the liquid may be provided at a cooler temperature from about 5° C. to about 20° C., which allows the beverage to retain the carbon dioxide infusion for a longer period of time.
FIG. 10B illustrates that the pod 10 may not incorporate a filter 24. In this embodiment, the beverage substance 26 may be contained within a pouch 152 that may be formed from an edible film that dissolves when the film comes into contact with water. As an example, the pouch 152 may be made from an edible film as disclosed in the US Published Application No. 2014/0199460, entitled EDIBLE WATER-SOLUBLE FILM, published Jul. 17, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Note that other edible films or pouches known to one skilled in the art may be utilized. The beverage substance 26 contained within the pouch 152 may be in the form of powder or liquid. As illustrated in FIG. 10B, the beverage substance 26 may be wrapped within the pouch 152 to prevent the beverage substance 26 from draining or pouring out of the gap 106 until the inlet piercing element 100 injects water into the third chamber 136 and then into the second chamber 38, which in this embodiment in the absence of the filter 24 is the space between the liner 134A and the container 12. Once liquid passes into the second chamber 38 via the one-way valve 146, the pouch 152 may come into contact with the water and may begin to dissolve such that most, if not all, of the beverage substance 26 may remain within the pod 10 to be mixed with the liquid injected into the second chamber 38. This may allow the entire beverage substance 26 more time to mix with the liquid within the second chamber 38 to dissolve more completely with the liquid to improve the quality of the beverage formation. In addition, the pouch 152 may be encased within the pod 10 so that the pouch 152 may be protected from the outside elements to prevent premature release of the beverage substance 26 contained within the pouch 152. That is, the lid 14 and the container 12 may be made from multiple layers including a barrier layer to protect the contents inside the pod 10 from the outside elements such as oxygen and moisture, as discussed above, and the container 12 may also act as a protective shell to protect the pouch 152 from being punctured by a foreign object. This allows the pouch 152 to be protected by the pod 10 during the packaging process, shipping, handling, and storing until the brewing process where the pouch 152 releases its beverage substance after getting wet with liquid.
The pod 10 may also include a support member 154 configured in a circular disk like shape with a plurality of holes 126 therein to allow the beverage to pass therethrough. The support member 154 may be provided between the pouch 152 and the base 16 of the container 12. When the pod 10 is utilized in a first orientation, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B above, the support member 154 may protect the pouch 152 from tearing by the outlet piercing element 68. That is, as the pod 10 is fully inserted into the cup holder 66 in the first orientation, the outlet piercing element 68 may pierce through the base 16 of the container 12 and then abut against the support member 154. This may prevent the tip of the outlet piercing element 68 from coming into contact with the pouch 152, thereby preventing the film 152 from potentially tearing and prematurely releasing its beverage substance 26 content therein and draining via the outlet piercing element 68 before the heated water is injected into the third chamber 136 by the inlet piercing element 100. Accordingly, the pod 10 incorporating the pouch 152 may be brewed in the first and second orientations, or may orientation therebetween the first and second orientation such that the beverage substance 26 may be retained within the container 12 to mix properly with liquid such as heated or cool water prior to draining via the gap 106 or the outlet piercing element 68. Note that when the pod 10 is brewed in the second orientation, however, the beverage formed within the pod 10 may be drained via the gap 106 so that the cross-contamination between different flavored pods may be eliminated or at least minimized since the beverage does not come into contact with an outlet piercing element.
The film 152 of the pouch 152 may be edible to consumers, which allows the pouch 152 to pack a variety of different beverages such as concentrated medicines for cold, flue, pain relief, sleeping aid, vitamin supplement, herbal, dietary supplement, and the like. The concentrated beverage substance 26 packed within the pouch 152 may also include baby milk, soup broth, energy drinks, coffee, cold brew coffee, concentrated tea, cocoa, fruit, punch, flavored water, and the like. The beverage substance 26 may be provided in different form such as powder, liquid, and a mixture of powder and larger ingredients as discussed below. The brewing mechanism may adjust the temperature of the water depending on the type of beverage substance 26 packed within the pouch 152. For instance, for coffee, the water temperature injected by the inlet piercing element 100 may be from about 80° C. to about 95° C.; and for brewing tea, the water temperature may be less such as from about 70° C. to about 85° C. In order to brew baby milk formula, the patch 142 may be formed from a filtering material to purify the water injected into the third chamber 136 before passing onto the second chamber 38 by the one-way valve 146. The patch 142 formed from a water filtering material may remove bacteria and microbial hazards from the water injected by the inlet piercing element 100. The one-way valve 146 may isolate the inlet piercing element 100 from the pouch 152 so that the baby milk formula 50 is not contaminated by the inlet piercing element and vice versa. And for brewing baby formula, the water temperature injected by the inlet piercing element 100 may be from room temperature to about 60° C., and in particular from about 40° C. to about 50° C.
FIG. 10C illustrates that the pod 10 may be packed with the beverage substance 26 within the second chamber 38 of the container 12. In this embodiment, the beverage substance 26 may be a mixture of powder 156 and larger solid ingredients 158. Without the filter incorporated into the pod 10, the size of the gap 106 between the rim 22 and the sidewall 18 may be larger than the gap 106 illustrated in FIG. 10A where the filter 24 is utilized. This may allow the larger solid ingredients 158 to pass through the gap 106 once the peelable portion 104 has been separated from the sidewall 18 in a manner discussed above. For example, the beverage substance 26 may brew a cup of soup with the powder 156 that dissolve with heated water to form the broth, and the solid ingredients 158 forming the vegetables. This allows the pod 10 to brew a cup of beverage with a mixture of different size ingredients within the beverage substance 26 utilizing one pod 10 rather than needing to utilize two separate packages: one pod to brew the powder base broth, as an example; and a separate pouch to pack the solid ingredients to be mixed into the broth.
FIG. 11A shows a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of a second portion 204A configured to work with the pod 10 having an irregular sidewall 18A, where the second portion 204A may be orientated to receive the pod 10 such that the angle θ may be between 0° and 90°, and in particular, the angle θ may be greater than about 15°. The irregular sidewall 18A may form a larger pathway 40 between the sidewall 18A and the sidewall 32 of the filter 24. On the outer side of the sidewall 18A, a number of channels 290 may be formed. The second portion 204A may include a holder 208A having an inner sidewall 250 configured to conform to the shape of the outer configuration of the sidewall 18A of the pod 10 such as the channels 290. In this example, the inner sidewall 250 may have a corresponding corrugated configuration 252 sized to receive the pod 10. The holder 208A may have a first slot 254 and a second slot 256 adapted to receive a first bumper 258 and a second bumper 260, respectively. In particular, other than the area between the two slots 254 and 256, the inner sidewall 250 of the holder 208A may have corrugated configuration sized to conform to the outer corrugated configuration of the sidewall 18A. The holder 208A may also have a mold 262 between the two slots 254 and 256 such that when the pod 10 is inserted into the holder 208A, a space 264 may be formed between the sidewall 18A and the mold 262. The space 264 may be greater than the rest of the space 266 formed between the sidewall 18A and the rest of the inner sidewall 250. The mold 262 may have a cavity 268 adapted to reshape the sidewall 18A as discussed in more detail below. The first and second bumpers 258 and 260 may have first and second proximal ends 270 and 272, respectively, adapted to pivot about a hinge 274 such that the distal ends 276 and 278 of the respective bumpers 258 and 260 may move in and out of their corresponding slots 254 and 256 as indicated by their respective direction arrows 280 and 282. The hinge 274 may be spring loaded such that the first and second bumpers 258 and 260 may be biased toward a retracted position as illustrated in FIG. 11A. The brewing mechanism may also include stoppers 284 and 286 positioned to engage with their respective bumpers 258 and 260 as the first portion 202 fully engages the second portion 204A as discussed above in reference to FIG. 6C. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have the mold 262 be detached from the holder 208A and be associated with the bumpers 258 and 260. In this embodiment, the holder may have an elongated slot between the two slots 254 and 256. Moreover, the holder 208A may not have the mold 262 to allow the sidewall 108A to expand into the enlarge space 264 created by the absence of the mold.
FIG. 11B shows the first portion 202 fully engaged with the second portion 204A but prior to the brewing process as illustrated in FIG. 6C. As the second portion 204A moves from the position shown in FIG. 6A towards 6C, the angle 0 reduces such that the first and second bumpers 258 and 260 engages with their respective stoppers 284 and 286, which cause the distal ends 276 and 278 of the bumpers 258 and 260, respectively, to engage with the outer channels 290 of the pod 10 juxtaposed to the two distal ends. Note that the distal ends 276 and 278 may engage with the outer channels 290 more securely compared to a smooth surface since the channels formed a cavity that conforms to the shape of the distal ends. However, it is within the scope of the invention to have the second portion 204A work with the pod 10 with the smooth exterior sidewall or any other outer configuration of the sidewall 18A. The two distal ends 276 and 278 may pivot about the hinge 274 such that the two distal ends 276 and 278 may pinch their corresponding outer cavities form by the channels 290 together such that the size of the gap 106 formed between the two outer channels 290 being pinched may be enlarged to improve the flow of beverage draining out of the pod 10.
FIG. 11C illustrates the sidewall 18A of the pod 10 being reshaped during the brewing process within the second portion 204A. As heated water is injected into the pod 10 during the brewing process, the temperature and the pressure within the pod 10 may increase such that the sidewall 18A adjacent to the mold 262 may be reshaped. Other than the area between the two slots 254 and 256, the inner sidewall 250 of the holder 208A may have corrugated configuration sized to support and retain the shape of the sidewall 18A such that the expansion of the sidewall 18A where it is supported by the inner sidewall 250 may be minimized. The enlarged space 264 (see FIG. 11A) between the mold 262 and the juxtaposed portion of the sidewall 18A, however, allows the outer channels 290 pinched by the two distal ends 276 and 278 to stretch and expand into the cavity 268 formed within the mold 262, thereby further enlarging the gap 106 compared to the gap 106 shown in FIG. 11B, prior to the brewing process, to reduce the flow rate of the beverage draining from the pod 10. The reduced or slower flow rate of the beverage through the gap 106 may minimize the turbulence in order to minimize splattering of the beverage as the beverage drains from the gap 106.
FIG. 12A shows a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a pod 10A incorporating a shield 302 between the filter 24 and the container 12. The shield 302 may have a sidewall 304 that extends upwardly from a bottom edge 306 and then extends outwardly from a corner 308 to form a first extension 310A and a second extension 310B. The first extension 310A may extend outwardly in a lateral manner and the second extension 310B may extend in an oblique or slanted manner relative from the first extension 310A such that the second extension 310B may face towards the base 16 of the container 12. The shield 302 may have a plurality of ribs 312 protruding out from the sidewall 304 and extending between the bottom edge 306 and the corner 308. The ribs 312 may maintain a pathway 314 between the two sidewalls 18 and 304 to allow the beverage within the pod 10A to flow along the pathway 314. The sidewall 304 may also have a plurality of holes 320 to allow the beverage to pass through the sidewall 32 of the filter 24 and pass through holes 320 and flow along the pathway 314. The shield 302 may have a line of weakness 316 between the first and second extensions 310A and 310B to allow the second extension 310B to move upwards to be aligned laterally relative to the first extension 310A as the cover 62 fully closes relative to the holder 66 in a manner described above in reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.
The pod 10A may have the first extension 310A of the shield 302 between the rim 22 and the ledge 36 of the filter 24; and the ledge 36 between the first extension 310A and the lid 14. The first extension 310A may be hermetically bonded to the rim 22 via the first bond 50; the ledge 36 may be hermetically bonded to the first extension 310A via the second bond 52; and the lid 14 may be hermetically bonded to the ledge 36 via the third bond 354 such that once the pod 10A is assembled, the pod 10A may be airtight to substantially prevent air, oxygen, gases, and moisture from entering and escaping from the pod during manufacturing, handling, shipping, storing, and normal brewing process. That is, the pod 10A may hermitically seal the beverage substance within the container 12 to substantially maintain the freshness of the beverage substance therein within an acceptable tolerance level for a desired period of time. In this embodiment, the first bond 50 may be a peelable bond, and the second and third bonds may be either peelable or more permanent bond. The rim 22 may have a line of weakness 42 such that when the pod 10A is used in the second orientation in the manner described above in reference to FIGS. 6-11, a portion of the rim 22 may separate from the sidewall 18, along with the adjacent portion of the shield 302, as discussed below, to form a gap between the sidewall 18 and the shield 302.
Alternatively, the shield 302 may be formed from a polymer material such as polypropylene and polyethylene such that the first extension 310A may be ultrasonically welded to the rim 22 with sufficient bonding, as discussed in more details below, to hermitically seal the beverage substance within the container 12 yet allow the first extension 310A to peel away from the rim 22 upon an application of sufficient force upon the second extension 310B. In the event that the weld between the first second 310A and the rim 22 may be stronger than the force applied upon the second extension 310B such that the first second 310A does not peel away from the rim 22, a portion of the rim 22 may separate from the sidewall 18, along with the adjacent portion of the shield 302 to form a gap between the sidewall 18 and the shield 302, as discussed in more detail below.
FIG. 12B shows a perspective view of the shield 302 having the sidewall 304 with plurality of ribs 312 extending between the corner 308 and the bottom edge 306 along a longitudinal axis 318. The sidewall 304 may have a plurality of holes 320 between the ribs 312. Alternatively, the sidewall 304 may not have the holes 320. Instead, the sidewall 304 may be formed from a web of ribs 312 with space between the ribs 312. This may allow the sidewall 304 to be more flexible to allow the sidewall 304 to conform to the filter 24 during the brewing process when the pod 10A is brewed in the second orientation. The first extension 310A may extend outwardly from the corner 308 with the second extension 310B further extending in a downward sloping manner relative to the first extension 310A. The sidewall 304 of the shield 302 may form an opening 322 defined by the corner 308. The opening 322 may receive the filter 24, and the ledge 36 may be bonded to the first extension 310A.
When the pod 10A is used in the second orientation, the shield 302 may support and protect the filter 24 from the separating element 216 utilized to separate the rim 22 from the sidewall 18 as illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 11, for example. That is, the shield 302 may support and protect the filter 24 from unintentionally tearing along the ledge 36 or the corner 34 of the filter by the separating element 216 as the first portion 202 moves towards the second portion 204, or vice versa, and in combination thereof. This may allow flexibility in terms of the type of filter materials that may be utilized to form the filter 24 of the pod 10A. For instance, the filter 24 may be formed from commercially available permeable materials such as paper or polymer materials but each material has its own attributes, which may be suitable as a filter depending on the application and the type of beverage being brewed. In general, paper materials are commonly used to form the filter within the single-serve pods, such as in K-Cup pods, for the following attributes: (1) paper filter is generally biodegradable; (2) paper filter generally allows the beverage to pass without altering the taste of the beverage; (3) paper generally bonds well to the interior sealing layer of the container such that the pods can be produced at a high rate; (4) once the paper material has been formed into its intended cup like shape, it generally maintains its desired shape such as when the filter sidewall has been corrugated to increase the surface area of the sidewall to allow the beverage to flow more freely; and (5) paper filters generally cost less than the polymer materials like nylon.
While there are a number of positive attributes to utilizing paper filter for the application of single-serve pods, the paper filter, however, is more prone to tearing and puncturing, especially when it is wet and under increase internal pressure during the brewing process, compared to a nylon filter, for example. Moreover, the filter 24 may be more susceptible to tearing when the pod is brewed in the second orientation versus the first orientation as discussed above. A thicker, denser, and/or stronger paper filter may be utilized to reduce the risk of tearing and puncturing but such thicker paper filter may restrict the flow of beverage therethrough, which can alter the taste of the beverage. With the shield 302 protecting the filter 24 from tearing and puncturing, however, a traditional paper filter material may be utilized to form the filter 24 within the pod 10A to take advantage of the positive attributes of the paper filter as noted above. It is however, within the scope of the invention to utilize polymer material, thicker paper filter, and paper filter in a single layer or in multiple layers where different materials may be combined to form a unitary layer with the variety of pod embodiments disclosed in this application. Moreover, when the pod 10A is brewed in the second orientation, the ribs 312 extending along the longitudinal axis 318 and protruding outwardly from the sidewall 304 may maintain the pathway 314 between the two sidewalls 304 and 18 to ensure that the beverage may flow along the pathway 314 to drain the beverage near the top side of the pod 10A.
FIG. 12C shows yet another embodiment of a pod 10B incorporating a shield 302A where the sidewall 304 in this embodiment may be shorter than the sidewall illustrated in FIG. 12A. Moreover, the filter 24A in this embodiment may have its sidewall 32 extending upwardly from the bottom 30 and terminate at a distal end 80. The sidewall 32 of the filter 24A may be bonded to the sidewall 304 of the shield 302 at a fourth bond area 324, which may be near the distal end 80. The filter 24 may be bonded to the sidewall 304 in a variety of methods known to one skilled in the art. For instance, the first bond area 324 between the sidewall 304 and the side wall 32 may be formed utilizing similar heat sealed or ultrasonic weld method utilize to bond traditional paper filter to the interior sealing layer of the container 12 adjacent to the distal end 80. The first extension 310A of the shield 302A may be sandwiched between the rim 22 and the lid 14. The first extension 310A may be bonded to the rim 22 via the first bond 50; and the lid 14 may be bonded to the first extension 310A via the second bond 52. In this embodiment, the first bond 50 may be a peelable bond, and the second bond may be either peelable or more permanent bond. The second extension 310B may extend outwardly in an oblique manner relative to the first extension 310A. The shield 302 may have a plurality of ribs 312 protruding from the sidewall 304 to maintain the pathway 314 between the two sidewalls 304 and 18 in a manner discussed above. When the pod 10B is brewed in the second orientation, the separating element 216 or the hook 288 may abut against underside of the second extension 310B near the oblique location 56 to peel away the first extension 310A from the rim 22 to allow the beverage within the pod 10B to drain along the pathway 314 formed between the two sidewalls 304 and 18. Note that the first extension 310A and the rim 22 may have sufficient structural rigidity to peel the first extension 310A away from the rim 22 more readily along the peelable first bond 50 than other areas of the container 12. That is, the outer diameter of the rim 22 may be less than the diameter of the oblique location 56 formed on the shield 302 to allow the separating element 216 to abut against the oblique location 56 such that the force applied by the separating element 216 near the oblique location 56 may transfer to the first extension 310A and the rigidity of the rim 22 may aid in the first extension 310A peeling away along the first bond 50 in a consistent manner. As such, in this embodiment, the shield 302 may be separated or peeled away from the rim 22 to allow the beverage to drain via a newly formed gap between the first extension 310A and the rim 22 without the need for a line of weakness on the rim 22. Moreover, with the pod 10B having the filter 24A bonded to the sidewall 304 along the fourth bond area 324, the overall thickness of the rim area including the lid 14, first extension 301A, and the rim 22 may be less than the thickness of the rim area including the thickness of the filter disclosed in pod 10A as disclosed above in reference to FIG. 12A. The reduced thickness of the rim area of the pod 10B may be similar to the thickness of the rim area of K-Cup pod such that the pod 10B may work readily with the brewers in the market that work with K-Cup pods.
FIG. 12D shows an alternative embodiment of the pod 10B illustrated in FIG. 12C. In this embodiment, the container 12 may be viewed as divided into at least two parts: a first part 82 and a second part 84. The first part 82 may be the shield 302A, and the second part 84 may be a revised container 12A with a sidewall 18B that terminates at the bend location or its distal end 20B without extending outwardly to form the rim 22. The first extension 310A of the shield 302 may nest over the distal end 20B of container 12, and the exterior side of the sidewall 304 may be bonded to the inner side of the sidewall 18B via a fifth bond 326, and the lid 14 may be bonded to the first extension 310A via the second bond 52. The first part 82 and second part 84 may be bonded together via the fifth bond 326 so that both parts may be hermitically bonded together in a manner described above such that air, oxygen, gases, and moisture do not pass through the bonded area during the normal manufacture, shipping, inventory, and use of the pod 10B. In particular, the fifth bond 326 may be a peelable bond and the second bond 52 may be either peelable or permanent bond. As such, the first extension 310A of the shield 302 may form the rim 22 of the container 12A. When the pod 10B is brewed in the second orientation, the separating element 216 or the hook 288 may abut against underside of the first extension 310A to peel away the shield 302 from the distal end 20B of the container 12A along the fifth bond 326 to allow the beverage within the pod 10B to drain along the pathway 314 formed by the ribs 312 or near the top side of the pod 10B.
FIG. 12E shows that the fifth bond 326 may cover the area around the sidewall 304 and the first extension 310A near the distal end 20B to provide a larger bonding area between the shield 302 and the container 12A to improve the integrity of the bond between the two parts. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have the interior sealing layer of the sidewall 18B be a peelable bond layer which is then heat sealed to the exterior layer of the shield 302 at the distal end 20B rather than utilizing the fifth bond 326. Alternatively, the exterior layer of the shield may be a peelable bond layer that is heat sealed to the interior layer of the sidewall 18B rather than utilizing the fifth bond 326. In addition, the second extension 310B may be shorter than the same extension illustrated in FIG. 12D. A shorter second extension 310B may provide a stiffer extension so that a force applied to the shorter second extension 310B by the hook 288, for example, may be transferred more efficiently to the first extension 310A to peel the first extension 310A away from the sidewall 18B.
FIG. 13A shows an alternative pod 400 in an upright expanded perspective view along a longitudinal axis 402 configured to brew beverages such as coffee and espresso; FIG. 13B shows an inverted expanded perspective view of the pod 400 along the axis 402 to show the top and bottom views, respectively, of the various components of the pod 400; and FIG. 13C shows a plurality of holes formed within the base of the filter for brewing low pressure coffee, as discussed in more detail below. The pod 400 may include a container 404, a filter 406 adapted to receive beverage ingredient (not shown), a distributor 412, and a lid 414. The container 404 may have a base 416 that extends upwardly to form a sidewall 418 and then extends outwardly to form a rim 420 defining an opening 460. The container 404 may be formed from a variety of materials and from single or multilayered sheets sandwiched together to form a hermetically sealed barrier to protect the beverage ingredients contained therein from atmospheric oxygen entering the container. The container may be formed from a variety of materials known to one skilled in the art. In this regard, the container 404 may be formed in a manner described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,336,498 issued Jul. 2, 2019, entitled “CONTAINER WITH IMPROVED PUNCTUREABILITY”, by Foster et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In particular, the container 404 may be formed by a variety of molding process such as injection molding and thermoforming process of thermoplastic material, which may be substantially impermeable and imperforate. For example, the thermoplastic materials may include polyolefins such as polypropylene and polyethylene, polystyrene, nylon, and other polymers; and in particular, thermoplastic material may be a bio-based resin, readily recyclable, and/or comprise of at least a portion of recycled material such as a recycled polypropylene base resin.
The filter 406 may have a base 422 that extends upwardly to form a sidewall 424 and then extends outwardly to form an extension 426, which may be defined by one or more extensions including a first extension 428 and a second extension 430. The first extension 428 may define an opening 454 adapted to receive the beverage ingredient (not shown). The first extension may extend outwardly to a predetermined distance as indicated by a reference numeral 431, and the second extension 430 may extend farther therefrom outwardly in a beveled manner or downward sloping manner relative to the first extension 428 towards the base 422. The first extension 428 may extend outwardly at a distance, as indicated by the reference numeral 431, such that the first extension 428 may extend farther out laterally than the rim 420 to allow the first extension 428 to lay upon or overlap the rim 420 when the filter 406 is placed within the container 404. The base 422 of the filter 406 may have a plurality of holes 436 where the size and number of the holes 436 may be predetermined to control the flow of the beverage through the holes 436 to provide a desired pressure within the filter 406, as discussed in more detail below. The base 422 may also have at least one retainer wall 432 with a plurality of slits 434, as discussed in more detail below.
The container 404 may be adapted to receive the filter 406 and the first extension 428 of the extension 426 may be releasably sealed or adhered to the rim 420 of the container 404 where upon a force applied to the underside of the second extension 430, the first extension 428 may peel, separate, and/or snap off from the rim 420. In this regard, the releasable bond(s) may be utilized such as the embodiments disclosed in US Published Application No. 2014/0161936, published Jun. 12, 2014, entitled CONTAINER WITH REMOVALE PORTION by Trombetta et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Alternatively, the first extension 428 of the filter 104 may be ultrasonically sealed to the rim 420 of the container 404 such as with the linear or torsional ultrasonic welding as known to one of skilled in the art. For instance, torsional welding method may apply high-frequency vibrational energy tangentially as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: (1) U.S. Pat. No. 10,554,004 entitled “Sonotrode, device and method for producing a join” issued Feb. 4, 2020; and (2) U.S. Pat. No. 10,532,424 entitled “Device for welding components by means of ultrasound” issued Jan. 14, 2020, both Assigned to Telsonic Holding AG, which are hereby both incorporated by references in their entirety. Alternatively, liner ultrasonic welding method may be utilized to weld the first extension 428 to the rim 420.
FIG. 13A shows that the rim 420 of the container 404 may have an energy director 437 protruding upwardly to engage with the underside of the first extension 428 of the filter 406 to absorb the energy from an ultrasonic welding method or apparatus in a more predetermined manner. A variety of welding methods known to one skilled in the art may be utilized such as a linear ultrasonic and torsional ultrasonic welding methods such that the energy director 437 protruding from the rim 420 may melt and infuse with the first extension 428 of the filter. And FIG. 13B shows that the underside of the rim 420 may have a line of weakness 442 similar to the line of weakness 42 discussed above in reference to FIG. 12A such that when the pod 400 is used in the second orientation in the manner described below, a portion of the rim 420 may separate from the sidewall 424, along with the adjacent portion of the first extension 428, as discussed below, to form a gap between the attached portion of the rim 420 and the extension 426.
The first extension 428 may have a step 403 formed in the inner side of the first extension 428. The distributor 412 may have a flange 413 that extends outwardly to rest within the step 403 of the filter 406. The distributor 412 may also have a skirt 446 adapted to engage with the inner side 440 of the sidewall 424 juxtaposed to the first extension 428 such that a portion of the flange 413 that extends out from the skirt 446 may rest within the step 403 and flush with the first extension 428. FIG. 13C shows a plurality of holes 436 in the base 422 of the filter 406 where the size and number of the holes 436 may be predetermined to control the flow of the beverage through the holes 436 to provide a desired low-pressure within the filter 406 to brew coffee for example.
The distributor 412 may have a base 442 with an outer skirt 446 adapted to engage with the inner side 440 of the sidewall 424 juxtaposed to the first extension 428 such that the base 442 may be adjacent to the first extension 428 of the extension 426 when assembled together. The skirt 446 may extend upwardly and/or downwardly to engage with the inner side 440 of the sidewall. The base 442 may have a protrusion 444 extending towards the inner space within the filter 406. The protrusion 444 may form a cavity 462 sized to receive an inlet liquid injection member, as discussed in more detail below, such as an inlet needle to inject heated water into the filter 406. The base 442 may have a plurality of holes 448 to allow the heated water to pass therethrough to substantially distribute the water over the opening 454 of the filter 406. The size of the holes 448 may be less than the average size of the beverage ingredient. This may substantially prevent the beverage ingredient from entering the protrusion area 444 thereby substantially preventing the beverage ingredient from clogging the inlet injection member, which can cause the brewing mechanism to malfunction.
The sidewall 424 may have one or more ribs 425 extending outwardly. The extending ribs 425 may be formed on the exterior side 427 of the sidewall 424 adjacent to the extension 426. As the filter 406 is inserted into the container 404, the extending ribs 425 may engage with the sidewall 418 of the container 404 to center the filter 406 relative to the container 404 such that the filter 406 may be substantially aligned with the filter 406 along the axis 402 of the pod 400. The distributor 412 may be placed over the beverage ingredient packed within the filter 406. The protrusion 444 may have an inverted bell like shape to enlarge the area of the cavity 462 adapted to receive the inlet member of the brewing mechanism. The enlarged cavity 462 may also allow the outer area of the distributor 412 to flex and bend more readily.
The manner in which the beverage ingredient is packed within the filter 406 may be predetermined to control the density of the beverage ingredient 410 therein to substantially prevent air pockets, gaps, and channels from forming within the ingredient 410 during manufacturing, shipping, handling, and during the brewing process. As a general rule, beverage ingredient 410 with greater density may require greater pressure to push the heated liquid through the beverage ingredient 410, which can extract more intense flavor from the beverage ingredient 410 in less time. Once the first extension 428 of the filter 406 is separated from the rim 420, as discussed in more detail below, the distributor 412 may flex to substantially contain the ingredient 410 within the filter 406 to avoid forming air pockets therein. The lid 414 may be placed over the filter 406 and the outer edge 450 of the lid 414 may be sealed and/or bonded to the first extension 428 of the filter 406 and a portion of the base 442 of the distributor 412. In particular, the lid 414 may be formed from a flexible liner with sufficient tensile strength to resist tearing due to the high-pressure during the brewing process.
The pressure developed within the beverage ingredient 410 can determine the type of beverage brewed such as coffee under lower pressure and espresso under higher pressure. A number of other factors can determine the pressure developed within the beverage ingredient 410 such as the pressure and temperature of the heated water injected into the beverage ingredient, the grind size and density of the beverage ingredient, the size and number of holes 436 in the base 422 of the filter 406, the depth of the beverage ingredient, and etc. FIG. 13C shows an enlarge view of the base 422 having a predetermined number of holes 436 sized to brew low pressure coffee by allowing the beverage to pass therethrough but substantially prevent the beverage ingredient packed within the filter 406 from passing through the holes due to pressure within the filter during the brewing process. For instance, the sidewall 424 may be substantially solid to direct most of the beverage, if not all, to pass through the holes 436 on the base 422. Moreover, the extending ribs 425 extending from the sidewall 424 may substantially maintain its shape under the desired brewing pressure conditions. The number and/or size of the holes 436 formed in the base 422 may be predetermined to provide sufficient resistance to flow of beverage to develop the desired brewing pressure within the beverage ingredient to brew a desired beverage. For example, to brew espresso under high-pressure from about 6 to 15 bars, the coffee beans may be finely grounded where the average grind size may be from about 40 to about 450 microns, and to brew coffee under low-pressure from about 1 to 4 bars, the coffee may be grounded more coarsely where the average grind size may be from about 500 to about 1,000 microns; and to substantially prevent the grinds from passing through the holes, the size of the holes 436 may be less than the average grind size of the coffee grounds. The holes may have a variety of shapes such as circular, square, rectangular, regular and irregular configuration.
Along with the size of the holes 436, the number of holes 436 provided in the base 422 may be predetermined to develop the desired pressure within the filter 406 to brew the intended beverage such as espresso or coffee. That is, the brewing mechanism may inject heated water into the pod 400 at a pressure up to about 19 bars but some of the pressure may be released through the coffee ground and through the filter 406 such that the espresso flavor beverage may be extracted from the finer coffee ground at about 8 bars, for example, with the difference of 11 bars of pressure being released, in this example. That is, the pressure within the filter may largely depend upon the size of the beverage ingredient and the size and number of holes 436. For instance, for low-pressure coffee, coarser ground coffee may be packed within the filter 406 and the size and number of holes 436 may be greater than that of the holes 436 to brew espresso, and substantial pressure may be released through the coffee ground and through the filter 406 such that coffee may be extracted from the coarser coffee ground at about 3 bars, for example, with the difference of 16 bars of pressure being released.
In general, for low-pressure coffee, the size of the holes 436 may be less than an average grind size or less than the lower end of the distribution of the grind sizes to brew coffee where the average grind size may be from about 450 to about 1,000 microns; and in particular from 500 to about 700 microns. Note that some soluble may have an average grind size of about 1,000 to 2,500 microns. For instance, coffee ground may have grind size distribution from 500 to 700 microns with an average or mean grind size of about 600 microns. With such grind size distribution and average, the size of the holes 436 to brew coffee may be less than about 600 microns or less than 500 microns to substantially prevent coffee ground from passing through the holes and to release the pressure within the coffee grounds to brew coffee. Alternatively, the pod 400 may include a paper filter between the holes 436 and the coffee ground, although not necessary, to allow the beverage to pass while preventing the smaller coffee sediments from passing therethrough during brewing process. Moreover, it is within the scope of the invention to have the size and number of holes 436 in the base 422 to be independent of the grind size of the beverage ingredient 410 where the size of the holes 436 may be sized to substantially prevent the ingredient sediment from passing through the holes 436.
FIG. 13B shows at least one retainer wall 432 extending from the base 422. In particular, the base 422 may have a plurality of retainer walls 432 extending therefrom with layers of retainer walls 432 forming a pathway between two adjacent retainer walls 432, and with a plurality of slits 434 on each of the retainer wall 432. The retainer walls 432 may have distal ends that contour the shape of the inner side of the base 416 of the container 404. The width of the slits 434 may be sized to serve as a second filtering step such that beverage ingredients that may have pass through the holes 436 may be substantially prevented from passing through the slits 434 while allowing a predetermine fine beverage ingredients to pass therethrough.
FIG. 14A shows an expanded perspective view of an alternative pod 400A along its longitudinal axis configured to brew high-pressure beverages such as espresso; and FIG. 14B shows an inverted expanded perspective view of the pod 400A to show the top and bottom views, respectively, of the various components of the pod 400A. The pod 400A may include the same container 404, the distributor 412, and the lid 414 as discussed above in reference to FIG. 13A. The pod 400A includes a second filter 406A adapted to receive beverage ingredient (not shown) to brew high pressure beverages such as espresso. The filter 406A may have ribs 425A formed on the exterior side 427A of the sidewall 424A, and the ribs 425A may extend from the extension 426A to the base 422A or some portion thereof. The ribs 425A may provide structural support to the sidewall 424A of the filter 406A to substantially prevent the sidewall 424A from expanding, and maintaining a pathway open between the sidewalls 424A and 418 during a high-pressure brewing process. The filter 406A may have a step 403A in the first extension 428A adapted to receive the same distributor 412 in a manner discussed above. FIG. 14C shows a plurality of holes 436A in the base 422A of the filter 406A where the size and number of the holes 436A may be predetermined to control the flow of the beverage through the holes 436A to provide a desired high-pressure within the filter 406A to brew espresso for example. In this regard, the size of the holes 436A for the high-pressure brewing applications may be smaller than the holes 436A for the low-pressure brewing applications; and the number of holes 436A provided in the base 422A may be fewer than the holes 436 provided in the base 422.
FIG. 15A shows enlarge views of the extension 426 of the filter 406 and the rim 420 of the container 404 of the pod 400 in reference to FIG. 13A. The first extension 428 may have the step 403 formed in the inner side of the first extension 428. The distributor 412 may have a flange 413 that extends outwardly to rest within the step 403 of the filter 406 such that the top surfaces of the flange 413 and the base 442 of the distributor 412 may be substantially flush with the first extension 428A. The energy director 437 may protrude upwards from the top side 421 of the rim 420, and the line of weakness 442 may be formed on the underside 423 of the rim 420. In this embodiment, the energy director 437 may be located at about the midpoint between the distal end 429 of the rim and the sidewall 418 of the container 404. And the line of weakness 442 may be between the energy director 437 and the sidewall 418 of the container 406 such that the line of weakness 442 divides the rim 420 into an outer section 425 and an inner section 427. The energy director 427 may have a variety of configuration such as a semi-circular, square, rectangular, triangular shape and the like. For instance, FIG. 15B illustrates that the energy director may have a triangular shape with a base width “B” from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm, a height “H” from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm, and a tip width “T” form 0.02 mm to 0.2 mm; and in particular, the triangular energy director may a base width from 0.4 mm to 0.6 mm, a height from 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm, and a tip width form 0.05 mm to 0.10 mm. In particular, the energy director may be sized and the ultrasonic energy applied to the energy director 437 may be such that the sealing force around the circumference of the rim 420 may be within a predetermined sealing force range such as: from 10N to 40N force (Newton Force); and in particular, from 15N to 35N force; and further in the range from 20N to 30N force. These sealing force ranges may allow the pod 400 to hermitically seal the ingredients within the pod while substantially preventing the rim 420 of the container from unintentionally separating from the first extension 428 of the filter prior to brewing the pod such as during handling and shipping. The container 404 and the filter 406 may be made of similar material such as polypropylene or polyethylene where ultrasonically welding two similar materials together may result in more consistent seal between the energy director 437 and the first extension 428 around the rim 420 of the container; and both parts may be made through an injection molding process to form the energy director 437 and the line of weakness 442 in the container 404 in a more consistent manner. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to form the container through blow molding and thermoforming methods. In addition, providing the energy director 437 on the rim 420 of the container 404 may provide a more consistent sealing force between the low pressure filter 406 and the high pressure filter 406A since the same container 404 with the same energy director 437 is utilized for both filters 406 and 406A such that the variances in the dimensions of the energy director 437 may be minimized.
In general, the line of weakness 442 may be formed such that the force required to separate the outer section 425 from the inner section 427 of the rim 420 may be in the upper range of the force required to separate the energy director 437. For example, if the energy director 427 is designed to separate between 20N to 30N based on predetermined ultrasonic energy delivered by the welding machine, then the line of weakness 442 may be designed to separate at about 30N. This way, if energy director 437 does not separate upon an application of about 30N due to variances in the size of the energy director 437 and/or the amount of energy applied to the energy director 437, then the line of weakness 442 may separate such that the outer section 425 of the rim 420 may peel away with first extension 428, as discussed in more detail below, thereby forming a gap between the inner section 427 and the first extension 428 to allow the beverage to drain via the gap. That is, the energy director 437 and the line of weakness 442 may provide two independent means of separating the first extension 428 from the rim 420 where the line of weakness 442 may serve as an alternative separation area in the event the energy director 437 does not separate as intended, or vice versa.
FIG. 15C shows an alternative embodiment of the container 404 where the energy director 437 and the line of weakness 442 may be located closer to the distal end 429 of the rim 420 relative to the locations of the two respective elements illustrated in FIG. 15A. This may allow the force applied to the underside 430A of the second extension 430 to be in closer proximity to the energy director 437 such that the applied force may be more directly applied to the energy director 437 for more consistent separation of the energy director 437. Moreover, the width of the inner section 427 may be wider relative to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15A such that in the event that the line of weakness 442 separates rather than the energy director 437, the inner section 427 may serve as a funnel to drain the beverage more smoothly.
FIG. 15D illustrates another alternative embodiment where the energy director 437 may protrude downwards from the underside 428A of the first extension 428, and the line of weakness 442 formed on the underside 420A of the rim 420. Note that it is within the scope of the invention to have the line of weakness 442 on the top side 420B of the rim 420.
FIG. 16A shows the pod 400 of FIG. 13A assembled such that the retainer walls 432 extending from the base 422 of the filter 406 may be adjacent to the base 416 of the container 404. Note that a pathway 455 may be formed between the two sidewalls 418 and 424. During the assembly process, the container 404 may be placed inside an opening formed within a platform and the filter 406 may be placed inside such that the first extension 428 may rest upon the energy director 437 protruding from the rim 420, in a manner discussed above. Ultrasonic welding may apply energy over the first extension 428 or on the underside 423 of the rim 420 to infuse the energy director 437 to the first extension 428. Note that with the base 422 of the filter 406 being adjacent to the base 416 of the container 404, the pod 400 may be utilized in the second orientation but may not be utilized in the first orientation since there is no room for the outlet piercing element to pierce through the base 416 of the container and enter the container 404 due to the base 422 of the filter.
FIG. 16B shows an alternative embodiment of the pod 400B where the base 422 of the filter 406 may be apart from the base 416 of the container 404 such that a chamber 470 may be formed between the two bases 416 and 422 to allow the tip of the outlet piercing element to pierce through the base 416 and enter the chamber 470. This may allow the pod 400B to brew in the first and second orientations.
FIGS. 17A through 17D show cross-sectional views of the pod 400 in different stages to illustrate a manner and method of brewing a beverage with the pod 400. In this example, FIG. 17A shows the pod 400 in a substantially horizontal position or second orientation as discussed above, packed with beverage ingredient 410 within the filter 406. In the second orientation, the pod 400 may be juxtaposed to an inlet member 500 having an inlet end 502 and a tip 504 with a gasket 506 therebetween. The member 500 may be adapted to slide relative to the pod 400 as indicated by the double ended direction arrow 508, or the pod may be adapted to slide relative to the member 500, or both elements 500 and 400 may be adapted to slide or move relative to each other simultaneously or sequentially. The member 500 may be positioned relative to the pod 400 such that the tip 504 may be juxtaposed to the lid 414 in order to penetrate the cavity 462 of the distributor 412. The pod 400 may also be juxtaposed to a detaching member 510 position behind the second extension 430 at about the six O'clock position. The detaching member 510 and the pod 400 may be adapted to slide relative to each other as indicated by the double ended direction arrow 512 where one or both elements 400 and 510 may move relative to each other simultaneously or sequentially.
FIG. 17B shows that to begin the brewing process, the inlet member 500 may pierce, puncture, or cut through the lid 414, or use any other apparatus or method known to one skilled in the art, and the tip 504 may rest within the cavity 462, and the gasket 506 may engage with the lid 414 surrounding the member 500 to substantially prevent the water from leaking out of the opening between the member 500 the lid 414 formed by the punctured hole within the lid. The detaching mechanism 510 may move towards an extended position as indicated by the direction arrow 512 to engage with the second extension 430 to separate the first extension 428 from the rim 420 sealed by the energy director 437 near the six O'clock position thereby forming a gap 484 between the extension 426 and the rim 420 that may extend from about four O'clock to about eight O'clock positions; and in particular from about five O'clock to about seven O'clock positions. Note that in this example, the force applied by the detaching mechanism 510 may be greater than the sealed force provided by the energy director 437 such that the first extension 428 may separate from the rim 420.
The second section 430 may taper towards the base 416 of the container 404 such that the underside of the second section 430 may form a concave shape or hook to allow the detaching member 510 to engage with the underside of the second section 430 to separate the first extension 428 from the rim 420 more consistently. The newly formed gap 484 may form a part of the second pathway 455 between the two sidewalls 418 and 424 and also between the adjacent extending ribs 425 to allow the beverage formed within the pod 400 to flow along the second pathway 455 and drain through the gap 484, as discussed in more detail below.
FIG. 17C illustrates that as the detaching member 510 moves further towards the inlet member 500 as indicated by the direction arrow 512, the second extension 430 may flex to allow the detaching member 510 to pass and rest on the opposite side of the extension such that the detaching member 510 may not interfere with the beverage draining out of the gap 484. Once the gap 484 is formed, a combination of the rim 420 and the concave shape of second extension 430 that extends downwardly may act as a spout to allow the beverage to pour from the gap 484 in a smooth manner to minimize spattering of the beverage. This may provide a clear path for the beverage to drain from the pod 400 without coming to contact with the brewing mechanism to avoid contaminating the beverage, as discussed in more detail below.
FIG. 17D shows the inlet member 500 injecting heated water 514 into the cavity 462, and the heated water 514 may flow along the path as indicated by the direction arrows 572 and 574, and the beverage 596 extracted from the beverage ingredient 410 may flow along the path as indicated by the direction arrows 576, 578, and 580, and drain out of the gap 484 as indicted by the direction arrow 590 and pour the beverage 596 into a mug 594. Accordingly, once the beverage 596 passes through the holes 436, the beverage 596 may flow along the pathway 455 and drain out of the gap 484, and pour into the mug 594 unobstructed by the brewing mechanism to substantially avoid contaminating the beverage and the brewing mechanism.
FIGS. 18A and 18B illustrates the application of the line of weakness 442 where the force applied by the detaching mechanism 510 may be less than the sealing force of the energy director 437 such that the first extension 428 may not separate from the rim 420 along the energy director 437 but the force applied by the detaching mechanism 510 may be greater than the strength of the line of weakness 442. Under such circumstances, as illustrated in FIG. 18B, force applied by the detaching mechanism 510 may separate the outer section 423 from the rim 420 along the line of weakness 442 such that the outer section 423 may remain attached to the first extension 428 and forming the gap 484 between the inner section 427 of the rim 420 and the first extension 428 to allow the beverage 596 to drain therethrough. As such, the energy director 437 and the line of weakness 442 may provide two independent means of separating the first extension 428 from the rim 420 where the line of weakness 442 may serve as an alternative separation area in the event the energy director 437 does not separate as intended, or vice versa.
While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Moreover, various features and functionalities described in this application and Figures may be combined individually and/or plurality of features and functionalities with others. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A beverage pod comprising:

a container having a base that extends upwardly to form a sidewall and extends outwardly to form a rim to define an opening, the rim having a line of weakness defining an outer section and an inner section of the rim where the inner section is juxtaposed to the sidewall;

a filter having a filter base that extends upwardly to form a filter sidewall and extends outwardly to form an extension to define an opening adapted to receive beverage ingredient, where the opening of the container is adapted to receive the filter such that the extension is juxtaposed to the rim of the container; and

an energy director between the rim of the container and the extension of the filter.

2. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the energy director protrudes from the rim of the container.

3. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the energy director protrudes from adjacent to a distal end of the rim of the container.

4. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the energy director protrudes from the extension of the filter.

5. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the energy director has a triangular configuration with a base width from 0.40 mm to 0.10 mm, a height from 0.40 mm to 1.00 mm, and a tip width from 0.02 mm to 2.00 mm.

6. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the energy director seals the extension to the rim around the circumference of the rim at a predetermined sealing force range from 15N to 40N.

7. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the strength of the line of weakness is predetermined to be near the upper range of the predetermined sealing force of the energy director.

8. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the line of weakness is between the energy director and the sidewall of the container.

9. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the container and filter are made of substantially similar material.

10. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the container and filter are made of polypropylene material.

11. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the container and filter are formed from an injection molding process.

12. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the base filter has holes to allow beverage to pass through the holes.

13. A beverage pod, comprising:

a container having a first part peelably bonded to a second part along a bond area, the first part having a first sidewall that bends at a corner to form a first section and defining an opening around the first section, the second part having a base and a second sidewall that is outside and juxtaposed to the first sidewall to form a pathway between the first and second sidewalls and to have the first section extends outwardly from the second sidewall where the opening defines a top side of the container and the base defines a bottom side of the container, and the bond area is located near the top side of the container;

a filter coupled to the first part such that the filter forms a pocket within the opening to receive a beverage substance within the pocket; and

a lid coupled to the first section of the first part to enclose the opening and to hermetically seal the beverage substance within the container such when the beverage pod is brewed in a first orientation the base is pierced by an outlet piercing element to drain the beverage via the outlet piercing element, and when the beverage pod is brewed in a second orientation at least a portion of the bond area is separated to form a gap between the first and second parts by a separating element to allow beverage to flow along the pathway and drain via the gap.

14. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the first sidewall is within the second sidewall and the first sidewall has a plurality of ribs protruding outwardly therefrom to provide the pathway between the first and second sidewalls.

15. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the first sidewall has a plurality of holes to allow beverage to pass therethrough.

16. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the first section of the first part extends in a lateral manner when the container is in the first orientation.

17. The beverage pod according to claim 16, where the first part further includes a second section that extends from the first section in a slanted downward manner relative to the first section.

18. The beverage pod according to claim 17, where the second sidewall extends outwardly to form a rim.

19. The beverage pod according to claim 18, where the first section of the first part is peelably bonded to the rim of the second part.

20. The beverage pod according to claim 19, where the rim of the second part has a line of weakness around the second sidewall.

21. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the filter has a ledge that is bonded to the first section and the lid is bonded to the ledge of the filter to enclose the opening and to hermetically seal the beverage substance within the container.

22. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the filter has a sidewall that extends upwardly from its bottom and terminates at a distal end that is bonded to the first sidewall adjacent to the corner of the first part.

23. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the first sidewall has an inner side and an outer side terminating at a distal end, and the first part has an inner side and an outer side

24. The beverage pod according to claim 1, where the filter has a bottom and the first part has a shield base to support the bottom of the filter such that the first sidewall is between the first section and the shield base.